Finding Me
by K-Kitching714
Summary: After Embry imprints at his high school graduation, he is seperated from his imprint, unable to find where she is. For seven long years, he is imprint-less and depressed, but what happens when they unexpectedly cross paths again?
1. Preface: Gaze

**A/N: This story is NOT originally mine. Dazzled4Life came up with the idea for this story, and wrote the Preface and Chapter 1 as well. She held a contest to decide who would continue on with her story, and I won. So please, all the credit for the idea and for the first two parts of this story go to her! From now on, all new chapters of this story (starting with Chapter 2) will be written by me.**

* * *

**Preface- Gaze **

At that moment, she was all there was.

She was all I saw, all I heard, all I knew, and all I could think about.

She was the only thing still keeping me down on the earth. She was beautiful. And, I was not just saying that under the circumstances. Any male anything would agree.

I was standing there smiling goofily at her, and I knew that I was on the receiving end of some weird looks.

Seven years later, and still I remember this scene clear as day.

It was fall, 2009 and we werewolves had just had a major run-in with the Volturi. Of course, I was still one of the few werewolves, whose parents were still unaware of our inhumanity. Sam, (being the stupid-ass alpha he is) suggested that I tell my mom now. Of course when I say "suggested" I mean "ordered".

Once my mom knew, she flipped shit, and took me out of the public school system for my senior year of high school. I had one of those teachers who would come to your house and teach you everything. I felt like a fag; only the retarded kids from La Push had to be home schooled.

But, it wasn't just the fact that I was a social outcast, (besides the pack, but they all still called me "short bus" for the whole year) but that tiny decision to keep me out of school ruined my entire life.

Even though I was home schooled, I still got to go to graduation in June with everyone else.

Graduation day was the day my life was completed, altered, and ruined.

The graduation ceremony was just starting, but I want paying attention. I was hanging out and laughing with Quil, and Jake, (the only ones that were in my class) when I heard the most beautiful name ever called over the microphone.

"Aria Ambler" the principal announced.

Surprising my friends, I turned around, and looked at the most perfect person I have ever seen walking up to the stage.

The second my eyes met hers, I knew what had happened. I knew that nothing would be the same, and that she would be the purpose of my existence.

But, what I didn't know was that this beautiful stranger, with whom I was already so in love with, was about to walk out of my life for what seemed like forever.


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome to My Freaking Life

**Another A/N: This chapter was written by Dazzled4Life, not me. All credit goes to her.**

* * *

**Chapter 1- Welcome to My Freaking Life**

I kicked the door to my shitty apartment open. No need for a key, just kick with minimal force! Although I probably shouldn't call the penthouse suite a "shitty apartment", but they think that just because there are guards and stuff that I don't get proper security! What a load of crap. I absolutely hate N.Y.C.

It's 1 am. I can't remember where I just was, only that I'm pretty sure I gave the taxi driver all the money in my wallet. I stumbled into my apartment, into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed.

I hated night. Every night I had the same dream. I dreamt of her. Aria.

I know I should be over it. I know I shouldn't care. But, something like that doesn't go away. I can still remember what it is like to hear Sam's, or Jake's, or Quil's voice in my head. I can still remember the way my muscles felt when I ran. I even remembered that awful smell that was vampire. All of it.

Don't get me wrong, I totally thought this would go away. I worked for almost a year on not phasing. It caused me physical, mental, and emotional pain. But, all that was nothing compared to the pain I felt when I was a werewolf. Aria was all I ever thought about. But, I had no clue where she was, or how to find her. I tried for months to find her and tell her what I never got a chance to before.

When the pain was too much, I decided to move away and start a new life.

I opened up an Italian restaurant. I have always loved cooking, and the pack felt really bad for me, so they, along with my parents, pulled together money to get me into culinary arts school, and open the restaurant. I named it Posto Dell' Aria, which means Aria's place in Italian.

I didn't want to let go of all of my old life. I still keep in touch with the pack, but I'm not all that close. I don't want to be reminded of the wonderful happy life I left for this empty one.

Posto Dell' Aria is how my life is spent. And, on nights like this, when my memories take me back to something painful, I usually just go out and drink; a lot. It helps me forget.

So, now, I must face the worst time of the day, sleep. When my dreams drive me mad.

* * *

My stupid strobe-like alarm clock woke me up at 5am, 4 hours after I fell asleep. The restaurant opens in three hours, but with all the rush on the Big Apple, I need to be there early.

I only have 10 employees, and my co-owner, and best friend, Kevin Frost. I had 4 waitresses (Kathie, Candace, Emma, and Alyssa) 2 bus-boys, (Grant and Tony) 3 cooks, (Tommie, Hank, and Tracey), and a hostess, (Laura). It's not a big production, but it gets me by.

When I first open up shop, I had three waitresses apply with the name Aria.

You would probably think that that is normal, because the place is named after a girl named Aria, right?

Not right. I had not even named it yet. All I did was post an add in the paper for waitresses. Of course, I did not hire them. It seemed rude to just blow them off because of their name, but I couldn't handle it.

When I got up, I fell over and had to use the night-stand for support. I could already tell that I was going to be hung-over today. Great.

I took a short, scolding hot shower, and put on my kakis, a button-up shirt and a tie. I heard my sell phone vibrate on the wooden side table next to my bed.

It was a text from Kevin.

"_Dude, I'm callin' in sick, kay?"_It read.

Really? I felt like I was going to pass out and the faggot was gonna call in sick?

"_Hell no, Man. If you don't come in I'm gonna' kick ur ass" _I texted back. I put my cell in my pocket. He better be there, or else I'm going to have to hunt him down.

I went through my monotonous daily routine. I would take 500 more newborn wars over this life.

I made my way to the subway. The route was the same every time.

1. Get on the A train. Wait two subway stops, and get off.

2. Ride the B train for five stops.

3. Walk two blocks to the right and…BOOM restaurant.

I walked in the door, and Laura said "Hey Mr. Call" very seductively. That's the main reason that I hired her for the hostess, she flirted with everything. But, it had no effect on me.

"Embry!" I heard Kevin yell fro the kitchen. Thank god he was here.

"Yeah" I mumbled, not bothering to keep up my happy-go-lucky charade that I always had when I was around Kevin. I didn't want him finding out about my past life.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?" he asked. Little did he know that this was my normal behavior.

So, I perked up a little. "Nothing, but, we all know there something wrong with you." I said, as I slapped his back and laughed at him.

"Jerk, you made me come in to work just so you can verbally mock me." He said.

"Yeah, but I do that everyday." I said.

He handed me a cup of coffee. "See, I'm actually being a nice friend and getting you coffee." He said, full of himself.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry I can't be that nice." I said with a smile and a shrug.

"Yeah, yeah, just get to work you two!" Tracey, the only female cook, and Kevin's fiancé yelled from the kitchen.

And with that, I continued on with my freaking life.

After work, Kevin, Tracey and I went to the bar down the street. As usual we were there for a couple hours. At the bar, I started getting really miserable. They would ask me why, but I didn't say anything. This happened sometimes, the pain would get really bad, and I would just break down. It has been getting worse lately for some reason.

Kevin and Tracy got into some conversation about where they grew up, which made matters way worse.

"…So, I had this group of guys I always hung out with." Kevin was saying. "I still keep in touch with one of them, Jacob, he was my best friend. You would really like him." He said.

Well how freaking perfect! His freaking best friend's name was fucking JACOB! Are you kidding me!

I started banging my head on the table to get the thoughts of La Push out of my head. Of course, Kevin noticed.

"Dude, how many beers did you have?" Kevin asked worriedly.

"I only had two!" I yelled. I was trying not to cry. I was freaking 25! I should not be crying in public. But, of course that's what thinking of her dose to me.

"Dude, you look like you're gonna cry. You are diffidently wasted." he insisted.

Kevin and Tracey thought it was because I was drunk, but really I only had one or two beers. But, either way they insisted on paying for a taxi

They shared the second penthouse suite in my building. I wasn't as big as mine, but that didn't matter.

It was about midnight by now.

When I walked into the building, I was very surprised to see a young girl checking in. Although I could only see her back, I couldn't take my eyes off her. I couldn't hear her either, but somehow I know that I would recognize her voice.

I suddenly realized that I was walking towards her.

"Em, what are you doing!" Tracey called.

"Nothing." I answered, walking away from this mystery girl, without taking my eyes of her. _"God! Who is she…?"_

But, then, something hit me, and I figured out that I didn't want to know who she was. I started sprinting past the elevator, and up the stairs. I would not waste any time, I had to get away from her.

I ran up 18 flights of stairs, in 2 minutes. I guessed it was my old werewolf instincts kicking in. That happens sometimes, when I really try to run or when I am working out; I will suddenly be able to bench-press 115 pounds on each side. Then I start getting funny looks, and I have to stop.

When I got to my room, I slammed the door behind me. I sunk down to the floor, and something came over me, and I _really_ had to cry.

Something about that girl, combined with what happened at the bar, just made me want to cry. And I wanted to cry harder then I knew I could.

Every single tear that I've been holding in for the past 7 years just exploded out of me, and I cried without showing signs of stopping.

I'm happy my friends didn't come looking for me, because I would never hear the end of it from Kevin.

I really wish that I could tell him everything, I am sure he would understand. But, who knows who is still watching me. I am sure if I told him I would get myself into some deep Volturi shit, so I just kept my mouth shut.

I cried myself to sleep, and I am pretty sure that I was still crying in my sleep.

Yeah, welcome to my freaking life.


	3. Chapter 2: Help Wanted

**A/N: This is the first chapter of the story written by ME!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Help Wanted**

The next morning, I woke up, much to my dismay. At this point, I would rather die than have to go through the motions of my depressing life, day in and day out.

But I've never been a fan of suicide, so I just suck it up and try to deal with everything as best as I can, although I'm not so great at that, either.

I officially suck at life.

Walking into the bathroom, the first thing I noticed was the man staring back at me in the mirror. He looked extremely tired and depressed, not to mention that he had puffy eyes from crying like a baby all night long. But I was used to this. I didn't even give a shit about my looks anymore. If she wasn't there to see me, then who was there to even impress?

I walked back out into my bedroom, taking note of the empty bed. The big, soft, warm empty bed and how different it would look, how much different _everything _would be, if _she_ were lying in it, instead of that stupid pillow next to the vacant space in the sheets where I sleep.

I started playing out the scene in my head, as pathetic as that sounds. I thought about how it would be if she was with me. I imagined myself stepping out of the bathroom to see her beautiful eyes looking at me, her arm propping her head up off the pillow, her shiny dark brown hair cascading down her shoulders..........

As I trudged into the kitchen to get something to eat before I left for work, I pictured her in the kitchen, too. I imagined what it would be like walking into the room, to be greeted with a good-morning kiss given by a beautiful woman making eggs at the stove. While I ate my bowl of cereal all alone at the table, I started to wonder what it would be like if she was sitting in the chair across from mine, drinking coffee and laughing over something she read in the morning paper..........

After that, I headed back to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Once again, I started thinking about Aria again. This time, I imagined her in the shower, waiting for me.........

I had to stop there. Who was I kidding? Hell, none of those things would ever happen in real life. I needed to stop thinking about her so much. It only made things worse when I did.

But at the same time, I was terrified to stop. What if I forgot about her? Sure, it would make my life a hell of a lot easier, but part of me wanted to hang onto every last bit of her that I could.

Not like I even had to try hard. She was my imprint, after all.

I hopped out of the shower and rushed to put some clothes on. If I didn't hurry, I would be late for work.

I was almost out the door of my penthouse building when I saw that dark-haired girl again. Her back was turned to me, and she wasn't talking. All I could see was the woman talking to her. Once again, I started walking automatically to where she was standing.

Suddenly, my cell phone buzzed in my pocket, waking me from my daze.

I picked it up and turned around, talking as I walked out of the door and away from the mysterious girl.

"Hello?" I mumbled.

"Good morning, sunshine," Kevin chuckled from the other end.

"Yeah...... what's up?"

"I thought that you would like to know that Laura's quitting."

"What?! When? The restaurant hasn't even opened for the day," I said.

"Yeah, I know. When I got there around 7:30, she was waiting by the door, tapping her foot, with this pissed look on her face."

"Well, did you say anything to her?" I asked.

"No!" he replied. "I told her good morning and asked her how she was doing, and then she just goes, 'Tell Embry that I'm quitting.'"

"That's weird."

"Yeah, I know."

"I guess I'll have to put another ad in the paper," I said as I pushed my way into a crowded subway.

"Yeah, maybe you'll even get a couple of girls named Aria to apply again," he chuckled. "Remember that, Em? That was so funny."

"Hilarious," I said in dry voice. "Look, Kev, I would talk to you longer, but I'm going to see you in about 10 minutes, so........."

"Okay. See ya, buddy," he replied before hanging up.

I walked over to a pole and held onto it, seeing that all of the seats on the subway were taken. Awkwardly enough, I was standing next to a young couple sitting on a bench, my crotch just inches from the guy's face.

"Sorry," I shrugged. "It's really crowded here in the mornings."

He chuckled. "No worries."

Glancing out the window into the pitch black tunnel, (why did they even have windows on subways anyway?) I overheard the woman talking to the guy.

"Aria better be at the baby shower," she said in a stern voice.

Instantly, I froze at the sound of her name.

"Well honey, she kind of _has_ to be there," he replied.

Wait- was Aria_ pregnant?_ That meant that she was probably in a relationship, with someone who wasn't me.......

_Hold it, Embry. You don't even know if that's the same Aria that you're thinking of._

But Aria was sort of an uncommon name, wasn't it? Then again, I did have three girls with that name apply to my restaurant.

"I know, but you know how Aria is, vanishing at weird times."

Maybe it _was_ my Aria.

But I couldn't just ask them, could I? How creepy would that be? I couldn't even say that I was a friend of hers or anything, because I wasn't.

_Come on, Embry. Just take the risk. Ask. It's not going to kill anyone!_

I struggled finding the right words to say as the subway came to a halt. The couple stood up and got off before I could even mutter a single syllable.

I mentally cursed myself over and over again. What if they did know the Aria that I was looking for? What if I just blew my one and only chance of ever being able to find her again?

I contemplated getting off at the next stop and going back to look for the couple, but how would I explain that to all of my employees when I was extremely late for work?

"_Oh, I'm just late because I was chasing after this couple that I thought might know my imprint. What's an imprint, you ask? It's just a shapeshifter's soulmate. Didn't I tell you- I used to be a teenage werewolf that protected everyone from vampires."_

I'm sure that they would all just nod their heads and go back to work.

Or they would admit me to a mental hospital.

Yeah, I would probably bet on the last one.

* * *

Eventually, I walked through the doors of my restaurant, being greeted by everyone except for the absent Laura. I didn't really mind that she quit, though. I was never really close to her or anything. The part I dreaded the most was having to put another ad in the paper and having to do all of those damn interviews again.

"Hey, so what are we going to do about Laura?" Kevin asked, putting a hand on my back and leading me over to a small booth.

"I don't know. I guess you or I will have to be a host until we can find somebody else," I shrugged.

Kevin groaned. "Great."

"And I think that you are a _much _better people person," I grinned, patting him on the shoulder. "Which is why I think that you should do the job."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, thanks. How kind of you. Hey- how about we alternate every other day? That would be way more fair."

This time I groaned. I really hated extremely social jobs like that. But it _was_ fair.

"Alright," I sighed.

"I'll work today, but only because you got wasted last night," he offered.

_I wasn't fucking wasted!_

"Thanks, man," I smiled fakely before walking to my small office in the very back of the restaurant.

I stated typing up a 'Help Wanted' ad, but I could hardly even focus.

All I could keep thinking about was what I heard on my subway ride to work.

And how I just blew my possibly one and only freaking chance.

* * *

The next day, I came down with the flu, so I decided to call in sick.

Lying in bed, I dialed Kevin's number.

"Hey, " I said, trying to sound as sick as I possibly could. "I have the flu. I can't some in today."

He sighed. "Oh, so _you_ get to call in sick but I don't?!"

"Do you want to come over here and watch me puke my guts out?" I asked him.

He went silent.

"Didn't think so...... Look, I'm sorry. It's probably just a 24-hour thing," I reassured him.

"Or you just don't want to work today."

"Hey!"

"Alright, alright. I believe you. Oh, I almost forget to tell you- I put up a 'Help Wanted' sign in the front window. We'll find a new person in no time," he said.

"Hopefully," I replied. I felt something rise up in my throat. "Shit. Hey, listen. I have to go. Call me later, okay?"

"Bye. Feel better soon," he said.

I rushed to the bathroom, puking for what felt like the 50 millionth time that morning.

When was my shitty life going to end?

_If I ever find Aria._

Just at the simple mention of her name, her beautiful face popped into my thoughts again.

And just at the thought of her beautiful face, I started to pathetically wonder what it would be like if she were here with me. _Again._

What would it would be like if she was here right now; if we were together? She'd probably be crouched down next to me, rubbing my back, putting a cool washcloth over my head. She'd probably be saying, "Aw, baby. It's gonna be okay. It's just a little bug."

But, like I always did, I had to stop myself from thinking about that. I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes again. And I couldn't cry on a day where I already felt like shit.

So I got a bucket from the utility closet, threw it down next to my bed, climbed under the covers, and turned on the news. I could take my mind off of Aria by thinking about homicides and the shitty economy. It was a great way to make myself feel better.

God, I really am pathetic.

I must have dozed off while watching TV because a little while later, I woke up, unaware that I had fallen asleep in the first place.

I had another dream about her again. About Aria.

But this time it was a bad dream.

She and I were in Times Square, holding hands. We were finally together. All of a sudden, herds of people swarmed around us, and it was difficult to even see where we were.

Then, Aria's hand slipped out of mine. The crowd was pushing her away from me, and she couldn't come back. She just started calling my name over and over again.

I tried to go after her, but I couldn't. There were too many people blocking my path.

And then, when she was out of sight, everyone vanished. Even Aria.

I was walking through Times Square all alone.

I stared up at my ceiling, watching the blades of the ceiling fan go round and round.

Maybe I needed psychiatric help.

Maybe- but then again, how would I explain that to a therapist without sounding like a complete nut job?

The only people that I could ever talk to about these things was my pack. But I left La Push a long time ago, and I was certainly never going back.

It was hard at first. I missed everyone, especially Jacob and Quil. I even missed my mother, although I never entirely forgave her for making me be home schooled my senior year.

Hell, I even found myself missing Leah. She understood what it was like to be deeply in love with someone that you knew you'd never be with.

But at least she started to move on.

I wasn't so lucky.

I glanced at my clock. It was already 2 in the afternoon.

I slept for 6 whole hours. I guess I really was sick.

As if on cue, my phone buzzed again. Some days I felt like chucking that thing out the window. Today was one of those days.

"Hello," I answered sleepily, rubbing my eyes.

"I have good news!" Kevin exclaimed.

"What is it?"

"A girl came in just now. She saw the 'Help Wanted' sign as she was walking down the street this morning and decided to come in and check it out."

"That's good."

"Yeah. Hey, mind if I interview her?" he asked. "Unless you want to be there-"

"No," I interrupted him. "You go ahead. You can hire her, too, if you think she's cut out for the job."

"Okay. That's all I was calling about. Are you feeling any better?"

"A little," I replied.

"Well, get some rest! You better have your ass in here tomorrow," he chuckled.

"Alright," I laughed. "I'll talk to you later."

"See ya."

I lied.

I wasn't going to talk to Kevin later.

Well, not later today, at least.

I turned off my phone and threw it against the far wall.

This was starting to feel less like a sick day and more like a mental health day.

Sure, I wouldn't be able to focus at work if I had to run to the bathroom every 15 minutes.

But I couldn't focus on anything at home, either. All it did was give me more time. Time to think about Aria.

It was torture.

* * *

The next day, I woke up and rode the subway to work with a smile on my face. I was a couple of hours late, but I really could have cared less.

I didn't know why, but something told me that today was going to be the best day that I've had in a long time.

I was reading something on my cell phone as I walked into Posto Dell' Aria. I knew the place like the back of my hand; I didn't even need to watch where I was going.

But I stopped in my tracks when I heard a female voice say, "Excuse me, sir, but this isn't a 'seat yourself' kind of place. How many people are in your party?"

I looked up to say something to the new hostess, but my mouth dropped open. My heart starting beating fast and my breathing caught in my chest.

I couldn't believe it.

There she was.

The person that I hadn't seen in 7 years.

The girl that I've thought about everyday since I first laid my eyes on her.

Aria.


	4. Chapter 3: Impossibilities

**Chapter 3: Impossibilities**

My eyes immediately raked over her body, trying to memorize each and every detail that I missed for so long.

I worked my way up, starting with her tan legs. Her dark purple dress cut off about an inch above her knee, hugging her hips tightly. My eyes traveled over her stomach and up to her neckline. Her dress wasn't too revealing, but it still showed enough to keep me interested.

Next I looked at her breathtaking face. Her black shoulder- length hair framed her face perfectly, enhancing all of her features. God, I would have killed in a heartbeat just to put those pink, pouty lips on mine. She still had the same curved nose, and her eyes- I could have looked into those brown eyes forever; which I probably would have done if Kevin hadn't cleared his throat behind me.

Returning back to normal, I noticed the freaked-out expression on her face.

It was the same exact look she gave me 7 years ago at graduation. I guess some things never change. Or maybe I just suck at first- _and second-_ impressions. Yep, that's probably it.

Instead of thinking about what to say next, like any normal person would, I said the first thing that popped into my mind.

"Holy shit! Aria Ambler?!" I asked, running my fingers through my hair.

Then I started worrying.

_Does my hair look okay?_

_Should I have worn that tie with this shirt?_

_Does she think I'm a creep?_

_Do I smell weird?_

_AM I weird?! _

She cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's me. Is there something wrong with that?"

"No. Oh, no, no, no!" I said, waving my hands around. "It's just that I….. nevermind."

She crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"I'm Embry Call. You probably don't know who I am, but, uh, we're both from La Push, Washington. Oh, and I'm also your boss," I added quickly at the end, smirking.

Her eyes grew wide. "Oh! I'm sorry about that. I didn't know-"

"That's alright," I smiled as widely as humanly possible.

I probably looked like a freak.

"Well thank you, for hiring me and all. You have no idea how grateful I am," she smiled.

"No problem. It's hard to find good help these days."

"So you grew up on La Push, huh?"

"Yep."

"Wow," she said. "It's a small world, after all."

Then she laughed.

It was the most beautiful sound that I'd ever heard.

"I guess so. Are you new to the Big Apple?" I asked, fighting the urge to run over and hug her.

She nodded.

"How'd you wind up here?"

"Long story," she explained.

Kevin cleared his throat again. He knew just how to ruin a moment.

"Okay, well, um, I'm just going to my office in the back," I said as I stepped away from her. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you, uh, Mr. Call."

"Just call me Embry."

I walked to the back of the restaurant, shutting the door immediately as I entered my small office and plopped down into a chair.

_So this is what it feels like to be in heaven._

I felt like dancing; I felt like singing; I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs.

_I finally found Aria Ambler!_

"You. Me. Need to talk. Now," Kevin said in a stern voice as he barged into my office.

"Ever heard of knocking?" I asked sarcastically.

"Ever heard of not checking out employees?" he shot back.

"What?!"

"Come on, Em. You and I both know that you have a thing for that new girl."

"I do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Alright!" he sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Then what would you call it?"

"Nothing. I acted completely normal. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Uh-huh. _Sure. _'Cause bosses always check out their new employees. Look, I'm not gonna lie. She's a really attractive woman-"

_Back off, Kevin!_

"but having relationships with your employees only creates problems," he finished.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "So? You're with one of the cooks."

"Yeah, but Tracy and I were together way away before we even opened this restaurant."

"Well, I knew Aria before I opened up this restaurant, too."

He snorted. "That's different. Obviously you weren't that close. She didn't even recognize you!"

"Whatever."

"Look, I'm not telling you this to be mean. I'm just telling you this because I'm looking out for you. One day, she'll flirt and smile back, and the next day- BAM! You've got a sexual harrassment suit filed on your ass."

"That doesn't always happen."

"It usually does. Please, Embry, just trust me on this," he said , waiting for me to say something in response.

I sat there for two minutes, arms crossed, mouth shut.

Eventually Kevin sighed and stormed back out.

It didn't matter what he said; he couldn't make me stay away from Aria.

I couldn't even make myself stay away from Aria.

That was just not possible.

* * *

***Aria's Point of View***

Walking home from work, I had one question turning over and over again in my mind: _Who was Embry Call, and how did he know who I was?_

Sure, La Push was a small place, but I didn't remember him. At all.

And it sort of freaked me out. How many other random strangers knew who I was?

But was he even a random stranger? As weird as it sounds, the more Embry talked to me throughout the day, the more it felt like I'd known him for a long time, like he was a friend of mine or something.

Maybe he was just trying to make me feel comfortable at work.

Or maybe it was just because we were both from La Push? Maybe we had an automatic bond or something.

I had no freaking idea. But I knew that my sister might.

Finally reaching the door to my sister, Alisa's, apartment, I lifted up the welcome mat and pulled out a small key. I unlocked the door and walked inside, only to be hit with the smell of French Onion soup coming from the kitchen.

"Honey, I'm hoooome!" I yelled out as I closed the door.

"Hey, you!" Alisa said, walking over to hug me. "Well, how was your first day at work?"

"It was.... _interesting_," I said, trying to be as vague as possible. "How was your day?"

"It was alright. He wouldn't stop kicking, though," she said, reaching down to rub her 7-months pregnant stomach. "I wish he would just come out already."

"You'll be regretting those words 13 years from now," I teased as we both walked towards the kitchen.

"What?" she laughed.

"When he becomes a teenager. You know, a 'moody sack of hormones'," I said, using air quotes.

She burst out laughing. "You mean like you?"

"I'm not a teenager!"

She laughed. "I meant the moody, hormonal part."

I smiled. "Listen, sister, I'm not the pregnant one here."

"You do have a point."

I watched as she bustled around the kitchen. I needed to stop waiting and just ask her already!

"Hey, Alisa?" I asked, leaning against the side of the counter.

She looked up from stirring the pot of soup. "Yeah?"

"Do you remember a guy named Embry Call? He used to live in La Push."

"Embry Call," she said, tapping her chin. "The name sounds familiar. Why do you ask?"

"He's my new boss."

"Wow, small world."

"I know!" I replied. "I don't remember him, but the weird thing is that he knew who I was."

"It's not that weird. You guys are from the same place. La Push is really small, anyway," Alisa said.

"Yeah, but I don't think that I've ever seen or talked to him before today."

"Big deal. Was he cute? Is that why you're obsessing?"

"What?! I'm NOT obsessing!" I defended myself.

"You didn't answer my question," she grinned devilishly.

"Okay," I sighed. "Yes, he was very cute."

"Oooh, looks like Logan has some competition!"

I started laughing.

"I'm serious. Maybe he shouldn't be away from you for so long," she grinned.

"Oh come on, Alisa. You don't actually think that I would cheat on him, do you?"

"A girl can dream, can't she?"

I scowled. Alisa really didn't like my fiance', and she didn't bother trying to keep it a secret, either.

"You're so supportive," I rolled my eyes sarcastically.

"Honestly, Aria, as of right now, you're planning to be with that guy for the rest of your life. That's a pretty big thing. And if I think that you're making a mistake, which I do, then I'm going to tell you. I'm not gonna shut up and just watch you ruin your life."

"Thanks for being so caring."

"You always were a testy one."

"Yeah, yeah," I waved her off with my hand.

"See?" she said, grabbing my left hand. "You don't even wear your engagement ring!'

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Sure."

"Well, it's just _alot._ I feel kind of dumb with it on, like I'm flaunting it around in people's faces," I replied.

"Hmmmm......, last time I checked, when you're in love with someone, you don't care if everyone knows."

"Jeez, Lis. Who are you, Dr. Drew? Stay out of my love life! I love Logan, okay? Nothing is going to change that!"

"Hey babe," Matt said, suddenly coming up from behind Alisa to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Woah, when did you get here?" I asked.

"Just now. I could hear you two bickering the second I walked through the door," he chuckled.

"That's our relationship in a nutshell," I said.

"Trust me, I know," he replied. "Can we eat now? I'm starving!"

"Yeah- the food's done. And Aria can tell us all about her first day at work," Alisa said, winking at me.

This was going to be a long meal.

* * *

Later that night, I pulled out my laptop to check my email.

Logan left me a nice email message, telling me how much he missed and loved me, and that he would see me in only two more months.

It sounds so cute, but really, it sucked.

I hated this. Long distance relationships never were my thing. But he promised me that after we got married, he would settle down. I guess I just had to hold on until then.

I clicked the 'Reply' button, hoping to type up something as equally sweet, but I couldn't come up with anything to say. My mind was distracted.

And the distraction was none other than Embry Call.

I didn't know what was going on with me. I'd barely known the guy for a day, yet I couldn't stop thinking about him. The way he looked at me, the way he talked, the way he smiled at me- I just couldn't get him out of my head. It was borderline obsessive, and I was starting to freak myself out.

I wasn't like this! I wasn't the obsessive, fall-for-a-guy-in-ten-seconds type. I had a past; I knew that I had to guard myself.

But I wasn't even falling for him, so I needed to stop freaking out.

Or was I?

No. Definitely not.

That would be crazy. I hardly even knew the guy. And I was engaged for crying out loud!

Ugh, I hated feeling like I had to constantly defend myself....... from my own thoughts. How pathetic was that? Maybe I was going crazy.

_No, _I thought to myself. _I just need some sleep to clear my mind._

I turned off the light and scooted under the covers.

* * *

***Embry's Point of View***

The next morning, I woke up earlier than usual. There were bills and things that I needed to catch up on at the restaurant, and getting there before everyone else was a good way to get things done effectively.

I was walking down the street, almost to the doors of the restaurant, when I saw her.

Aria sat on the ground, her back leaning against the building. She had headphones over her ears and a book in her lap.

Smiling to myself, I walked over to her.

I tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped, finally looking up from her book.

"Sorry," I apologized. "But you know, that's kind of dangerous."

"What is?" she asked.

"Sitting down like that, completely unaware of everything around you."

Ugh, I sounded just like my mother- all overprotective and shit.

"Oh."

"So, what are you doing here so early?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, my brother-in-law drives me here before he goes to work really early. He's my only way of transportation," she chuckled. "Well, I guess I could walk, but it's kind of a long way, and the subway is super confusing. I have no idea where anything is!"

"Maybe I could show you around sometime," I offered.

"That's nice. I'd like that," she smiled. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I have to catch up on bills," I shrugged.

"Fun."

"Oh yeah," I joked, starting to walk toward the front doors of the restaurant.

To my surprise, Aria got up and followed me.

Once we were inside, I looked around awkwardly.

"Um, if you want to come in the back and watch me do bills, you can," I scratched the back of my head, laughing. "I know it doesn't sound exciting, but there's nothing else to do, really."

"Okay," she said, following me again. "Is there any way I can help?"

"Sure," I said, handing her a few envelopes off of my desk. "You can do these, I guess."

She sat down across from me and started getting to work.

I had trouble focusing with Aria so close to me.

"Listen," I said, ten minutes later. "This is boring. Wanna grab some coffee? There's this really good cafe' 2 blocks over. They open really early."

"But what about all of these?" she motioned to the stack of envelopes.

"Don't worry about those. I'll just make Kevin do them later," I chuckled.

"Now that you mention it, I _could _use a little pick-me-up. I didn't sleep very well last night," she replied.

"Why?"

"No reason," she said quickly, standing up. "Lead the way."

* * *

"Aria, seriously, let me pay for it. It's only 3 bucks," I said, grabbing her arm as she tried handing me a $5 bill.

"No, Embry. It's fine. You don't have to do that."

"Come on."

"Alright," she sighed, looking down at my hand. "Um, can you let go of my arm?" she laughed.

I blushed. "Uh, yeah. Sorry," I said as I handed money to the cashier.

"Let's sit here," she said, setting her coffee mug on a small table next to a big window. "We have a nice view of the street."

"Good choice." I slid into the seat across from hers.

She took a sip out of her mug. "Wow! This stuff _is _good. You were right, Embry."

"I usually am," I teased.

"Mhmmm. Sure," she rolled her eyes.

"Are you forgetting that I'm the one in charge of your paycheck?" I said in a serious tone.

Her face fell. "I'm sorry. I thought that you were-"

"Aria," I started laughing. "I'm just kidding. I'm not that mean!"

"Well, I can honestly say that you're one of the friendliest bosses I've ever had," she replied. "And I've worked tons of jobs."

"Oh, so now you're trying to butter me up, are you?"

"Unlikely."

We sat in silence for the next few minutes until I finally came up with something to talk about.

"Hey, you wanna play 20 questions?" I asked her.

"Sure. You go first."

"Okay. What's your middle name?"

"Noelle," she said, making a face.

"What's wrong with that name? I like it."

"I don't know. It just bugs me. I used to know this really annoying girl named Noelle. Maybe that's why," she laughed. "How old are you?"

"25."

"Oh, so then were we in the same graduating class?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Don't take offense to this or anything, but I don't really remember seeing you anywhere around school."

"My mom decided to have me be homeschooled my senior year," I said as I took a drink of coffee. "Against my will, might I add."

"That's not fair. Why?"

"It's way too complicated to explain," I sighed. "When's the last time you were in La Push?"

"About 3 and a half years ago. What about you?"

"I've been gone for 7. Personal reasons," I added at the end. "How many siblings do you have?"

"Four. Your restaurant- why is it named Posto Dell' _Aria?"_

"Oh," I said, hurrying to think of something. "Well, uh, Kevin is part Italian, and his grandmother's name was Aria, so we thought it fit well."

I hope she believed me. I always sucked at lying.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Uh, what's your favorite kind of-"

"Embry?" she interrupted. "I know it's not my turn, but I have to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"How did you........ how did you know who I was?"

My eyes darted back and forth. How would I ever explain that one?

"Well," I said slowly, trying my hardest to think of another excuse. "Like I said, we went to the same high school."

"Yeah, but you weren't around senior year. And how come you never talked to me back on the reservation? If you knew me, then you should have at least tried talking to me."

"Alright," I sighed. "I never knew you or talked to you. I remembered hearing your name at graduation."

She looked suspicious. "Really, that's all?"

"Yeah."

"But you knew what I looked like, too."

Dammit. She did have a point.

"Uhm, I'm really good at placing faces with names. My memory is like, really good," I rambled.

Right at that moment, my annoying phone started ringing loudly in my pants pocket.

That's the first time that it actually rang at a convenient time!

Pulling it out of my pocket, I glanced at the caller ID: Kevin.

I don't even know why I checked; he was the only person that ever called me.

It made me feel like a social retard.

"Hello?" I said as I flipped the phone open.

"Where are you? You're 15 minutes late for work. Oh, and I think Aria's sick or something. But she didn't call in to tell me, did she say anything to you?" Kevin's voice boomed from the other end.

"Um, no. She's here with me. We got coffee, and I wasn't watching the time. We'll be over in 5 minutes," I said, shutting the phone before I could listen to his response.

I didnt' need to hear Kevin asking me why I went out with Aria.

"Who was that?" Aria asked, reaching for her bag.

"Kevin. Looks like we're 15 mintues late for work," I grinned sheepishly.

"Really? We are?! Shit!" she said, starting to panic.

"It's alright. It's my fault anyway. Don't worry, it's not going to be used against you," I chuckled.

"Good," she smiled as she scooted out of her chair.

I watched as she walked to the door, her hips swaying back and forth.

_Damn._

Yep, it was definitely going to be impossible to stay away from that woman.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not entirely sure if I liked how this chapter went or not. What do you think- loved it or hated it? Compliments AND criticisms are always appreciated! (Just please be nice with the criticism lol.) Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	5. Chapter 4: The Truth Hurts

**_A/N: I forgot to say that Twilight is NOT mine, it's Smeyer's! Because if Twilight were mine, I would be loaded and Breaking Dawn wouldn't have sucked! I kid, I kid. But seriously, Twilight's not mine._**

* * *

***APOV***

As I threw a couple of shirts into a washing machine, I let out an exasperated sigh.

Oops, I guess I let that out a little too loud; half of the people in the laundromat turned to look at me

Quickly, I scanned all of their faces, trying to see if one of them was _his_ face.

Oh, God. Did I really just do that?

Yes. Yes, I did.

I shook my head as I spun the dial on the washer around.

You'd think that after 3 weeks of knowing someone, you'd become less intrigued by them.

Nope! That wasn't the case with Embry.

It was like being around him made everything easier, happier. I wanted to be around him as much as I could. Laughing with him, talking with him- it all just felt so natural.

I even woke up every weekday at 5 a.m. to get to work early. And everyone knows that I hate waking up early. But I did it anyway. I'd never it admit it, but it was only because every morning, Embry would be there, waiting for me. We always did the same thing- have coffee at that café' a few blocks over. It never got old. I guess it was safe to say that Embry was unlike anyone else I've ever met.

I'm pretty sure he'd even tried to make a few moves on me, too, but despite Alisa's "advice", there wouldn't be any moves made on my part. I was engaged, after all.

Ick. I cringed at that word. "Engaged" sounded more like a death sentence than an exciting thing. But oh well. I was in love with Logan , and getting married would be just what I needed to settle down and finally be happy.

I think.

A phone started ringing, getting louder and louder.

Two minutes later I was about to lose my sanity over that annoying ringing.

_God, will someone just pick up their damn phone already?_

"Excuse me, miss," a short old man said as he walked toward me. "Can you please answer your phone? The ringing is hurting my hearing aid."

Crap. It was my phone? Maybe I really was going insane.

"Sorry," I smiled politely. "I guess I was so caught up in the-"

"Panties?" he interrupted, smirking at the purple pair in my hand.

Oh, ew. Ew. Ew. Ew.

"Uh, sure," I said, walking away from him as fast as possible.

Grabbing my phone out of my pocket, I glanced at the caller ID. My heart started beating faster when I saw that it was Embry.

"Hey," I said casually as I pressed the 'talk' button.

"Hi, Aria," he replied. Just from the way he talked, I could tell he was smiling. "Where do you want to meet?"

"Meet?" I asked, ignoring the butterflies in my stomach. I didn't know what he was talking about.

"Yeah. You didn't forget that I'm showing you around the city today, did you?"

_Yes._

"No, no! Of course not!" I replied. "But see, I'm kinda at the laundromat right now and-"

"Which one?"

"Um, I think it's at the corner of Parks and 10th."

"Great!" he said. "I'll come pick you up there."

"Embry, I have to go back home and drop all of the clothes off after this."

"No problem. I'll come with you. I've always wondered where you live anyway," he replied.

"Okay."

"Crap. I didn't mean for that to come out so stalker-ish."

"It's okay," I laughed.

"See you in 20 minutes, then?"

"Sounds good."

Half an hour later, Embry was helping me unload all of the clean clothes.

"Damn, Aria! You have a lot of clothes!" Embry complained as he threw some pants into a laundry basket.

"They're not all mine, stupid!" I laughed. "Do you honestly think I'd wear this?" I asked, holding up a polka-dot maternity shirt.

"I dunno," he smirked.

"Are you implying that I'm fat?!" I stuck my tongue out at him.

Just as I took the last shirt out of the dryer, I noticed Embry looking at the old man from earlier. I frowned when I realized that he was walking toward us.

"Quick! Don't make eye contact!" I whispered, pulling Embry towards the door.

"What was that about?" Embry asked as soon as we were outside.

"Oh trust me, you don't wanna know!" I chuckled. "Come on, my apartment's this way."

* * *

***EPOV***

"I can't believe you live here!" I exclaimed as Aria and I walked onto an elevator in the lobby of my- _our_- apartment complex. "Do you know how much easier things would have been if we knew this 3 weeks ago?" I laughed.

"I know! Hey, maybe we can ride the subway to work together now!" she exclaimed.

"What floor do you live on?"

"Eight," she said, pressing the button next to the elevator doors. "What about you?"

"15."

"Dang. That's the top floor, right? With all of the penthouses?" she asked.

"Yup," I nodded.

"Do you live on your own?"

"Unfortunately, yes. But Kevin and Tracey live right next to me."

"That's not so bad then."

"Yeah. Do you live on your own?" I asked.

"Nah. I live with my annoying sister and her sickeningly perfect husband."

_That's good. At least she doesn't live with a boyfriend or something._

"Oh," she said, making a face. "But don't tell them I said that, okay?"

"You can trust me," I laughed.

"That's good to know," she smiled.

She grabbed my arm as the elevator came to a stop.

"My apartment's this way," she said, leading me down the hall.

Eventually, she stopped in front of door 8401.

"Open up," she knocked.

Two minutes later, Aria and I were still outside, and she was growing impatient.

"Hey, Hormones! Open up! It's Orlando Bloom," Aria knocked louder.

"Ah, yes. Because Orlando sounds exactly like my impatient little sister," a woman who resembled Aria laughed as she opened up the door.

"Hey, it's the only way you let me in this place," Aria replied.

"Yeah, since you lost your key! And who do we have here?"

"Oh, right. I forgot that you two haven't met each other yet," Aria said. "Alisa, this is Embry Call, and Embry, this is my sister, Alisa."

"It's nice to meet you, Embry," Alisa smiled, stepping closer to me and holding out her hand to reveal her pregnant stomach.

Good, so Aria wasn't the pregnant one. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's nice to meet you, too," I smiled while shaking her hand.

As I walked behind Aria into the apartment, I couldn't help but to be grateful for my wolf-hearing.

"Now I see why you talk about him so much. He is _fine!"_ Alisa whispered in Aria's ear. "I approve!"

* * *

"And here," I said, handing Aria a tray of food. "Is your first New York hotdog!"

"Yay!" Aria squealed as she took the hotdog and bit into it. "Does this make me an official New Yorker now?"

She was so cute when she was eating.

"Aria," I montioned to the side of my mouth, hoping that she would catch on.

"What?" she looked at me confused.

"You've got ketchup on the side of your mouth," I chuckled.

"Oh," she reached her hand up to wipe it away. "All gone?"

"Not yet. Here," I said, reaching over to get it off. I gently wiped the side of her lip. "There."

"Thanks," she smiled, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

And she was so cute when she blushed.

After showing Aria around Times Square, Central Park , and everything in between, I decided to take her to the Statue of Liberty.

"I've always wanted to look out from the top," she said excitedly as we made our way up to the observation deck."

"Same here!"

"You mean you've never been to the Statue of Liberty before?"

"Nope," I replied.

"But you've lived here for what? 7 years?" she asked.

"I know," I said. "I just never got around to it. I guess I was just waiting for the perfect person to come along to see it with," I smiled.

She smiled back.

"Excuse me," a woman said behind us. "I know that it's not any of my business, really, but you two are one of the cutest couples I've ever seen."

"Oh, we aren't a couple," Aria quickly said.

My stomach dropped.

We _should_ be.

"But thanks anyway."

The woman shrugged and walked away.

"I can't believe she thought we were dating!" Aria exclaimed.

I raised my eyebrows. "Why not? What's so bad about dating _this?_" I joked, motioning to my body.

"There's nothing wrong with dating you! Any girl would be lucky to date you! I mean, have you _seen_ yourself, Embry?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Now you see my point."

Wait- did Aria just imply that I was attractive? Oh yes she did.

For the next two hours, I couldn't wipe the enormous grin off my face.

* * *

"You know, you don't have to get to work so early every day," I told Aria as I took a sip of my drink.

"I know," she replied.

"Then why do you do it?"

"Why do _you _do it?" she asked, taking a bite of her pizza.

I just shrugged and went back to eating my sandwich.

"So that I can see you," I said five minutes later, looking up at her.

"What?" she asked.

"I get to work early every day so that I can see you."

A smile lit up across her face. "Really?"

"Yeah," I smiled back. "Really."

"That's funny because, well, because I like to go to work early to see _you_."

"I'm that lovable, huh?" I teased.

"Oh yeah," she chuckled. "Actually," she paused. "To be honest, I don't know how to say this without sounding weird."

"Try me. I'm good with weird."

"Well, we've only known each other for 3 weeks, right?"

"Basically."

"Well," she said. "I know this sounds weird, and you probably don't feel the same way about me, but I feel…… really close to you, like I've known you for a long time or something."

I grinned. This day just kept getting better and better.

"You know what? I feel the same way about you," I replied.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I feel…… protective of you."

"Maybe it's because we're both from La Push," she said.

_Psssh. More like because you're my soulmate._

"Probably," I lied.

Aria stopped talking to eat half of her salad.

"Slow down," I laughed. "The food isn't going anywhere."

She rolled her eyes. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Are you purposely a smartass, or were you just born that way?" she smirked.

"Both," I grinned.

"Good to know."

"How did you end up in the food busniness?"

"If I tell you, will you tell me how you ended up here in NYC? Because you keep avoiding that subject."

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes.

"Pinky-swear?"

"What are you, 10?"

"Come on," I said, holding my pinky out.

"Pinky-swear," she sighed, twisting her pinky with mine.

"Alright. Well, after I graduated high school, I stayed around La Push for a few months, but then I got really bored, so I moved up here, went to culinary school where I met Kevin, and then we opened up the restaurant together," I said. "Your turn!"

"What? But your story only 3 seconds. That's not fair!"

"Hey, you never said it had to be a long story. Your turn!"

"Fine," she sighed. "But my story's long, alright? So don't blame me if you get bored."

"Okay," I motioned for her to go on.

"After I graduated, I immediately left La Push. I love that place, but I needed some excitement in my life! I needed to branch out and have some fun. So I attended college at the University of Miami . It was everything La Push wasn't- sunny, warm, and largely-populated," she laughed. "Plus it had a really good medical school."

"Med school, huh?" I interrupted.

"Yep. I wanted to be a doctor," she replied.

"Then why-"

"Hey!" she held her hand up. "We'll get to that part."

"Alright," I said, putting my hands behind my head and leaning back into the booth.

"But then in my junior year, my dad got really sick. My family's never claimed to be rich, and most of the money my parents earned went into my and my siblings' college funds. Well, the bills were tight at their home, and none of my other siblings stepped up to the plate, so I thought 'What the hell' and decided to drain my college fund by using it to help pay for my dad's chemo. I even moved back home to help my mom out with my dad."

_Dammit! I knew I would've seen her again if I'd just stayed in La Push!_

"You gave up all of your college money? Dang."

"Yeah. I know I could've gotten a student loan or whatever, but I had other priorities at the time, although I really regret dropping out of school."

"You could always go back," I said.

"That's true," she replied. "But I don't know if I have enough motivation anymore. So I went back to La Push and took care of my dad for a year and a half. But he ended up....... going to a better place," she said slowly.

I reached across the table and grabbed her hand, giving it a light squeeze.

"It was really hard on my whole family, my mom and I especially, probably because we took the most care of him," she said. "I couldn't go back to college; there wasn't enough money, and I don't think that I couldn't have even handled it at the time. I stuck around for a couple of months, just grieving, until I met this guy."

I dropped her hand. As soon as she said 'guy', my heart started beating faster....... No, she couldn't be-

"Turns out him and some of his friends were visiting La Push for a weekend. We ended up exchanging numbers and later on things got serious. He was so nice- he even helped pay some of my family's debt from all of the medical bills and everything. He even offered to put me through college, Embry! But I couldn't take the money."

I swallowed hard, knowing what was going to come next.

"Instead, we started dating. Fast forward a year and a half later, and now I'm engaged to him. He lives out here, so I decided to move out here, too."

Fighting the urge to cry (like the man I was), I asked, "But don't you live with you sister?"

"Yeah. His job requires him to travel a lot, so we're doing the long-distance thing for now. Once we're married, he says he'll settle down," she replied.

"Well, I'm happ(like the man I was), I asked, "But don't you live with you sister?"

"Yeah. His job requires him to travel a lot, so we're doing the long-distance thing for now. Once we're married, he says he'll settle down," she replied.

"Well, I'm happy for you," I put on a fake smile. "When's your wedding?"

"In October."

"That's 7 months from now," I said.

"Yeah. Are you with anyone?"

_Nope. Well, except for those one-night stands I have when I get drunk thinking of how I can never be with you._

"Nah. I'm living the single life."

"Seriously? A good-looking guy like you is single?"

I nodded.

"Well, you probably won't be for long," she smiled.

_Yeah, cause after this, I'm gonna get wasted at the bar._

_WASTED!_

* * *

"Embry, thanks so much for taking me around the city today. I really enjoyed it," Aria smiled as we walked onto the elevator again.

This time, I pressed the button for _my _floor. I didn't think that I could hold myself together, having to take Aria back to her place. I needed to get back to my apartment as fast as I could, before I started having a breakdown again.

"Anytime," I forced a smile. "I had a great time."

_A great fucking time until you told me you were engaged to some rich jackass._

"Well, here's my floor!" Aria exclaimed as the doors opened. "I'll see you tomorrow morning," she said, hugging me before she got off.

Oh, joy.,

As soon as the elevator reached my floor I ran to my apartment as fast as I could, slamming the door behine me. I collapsed on my bed, and before I knew it, I was full-blown sobbing.

Sobbing!

Ugh, I hated crying. It made me feel so _helpless._ And feminine. Which was really kind of ironic since I was a 6'5 giant who looked like I could beat someone up. I guess my bark is worse than my bite.

This was almost as worse as before I found Aria again. What was the point of being around Aria if I knew that she didn't love me, if she didn't want to be with me like that?

Why the hell should I stick around to watch another guy put his hands all over _my _girl? The one who is supposed to be with me?

But I guess at the same time, as long as Aria was happy, then that would give me a little comfort, but not enough to make me feel better.

Could you just defy destiny like that? Is it truly possible to never end up with your soulmate?

I guess so.

As soon as I calmed down, I called Kevin.

"Hey, Embry! What's up? Oh, by the way, you're on speaker. It's just me and Tracy in here."

"Wanna go get some drinks?" I asked. "I could really use one….. or twelve."

"Twelve?" he chuckled.

"Sweetie," I recognized Tracy's voice. "What's bothering you?"

"Huh?"

"Embry, you always drink when you're upset," she replied.

"I don't really want to talk about it," I snapped.

"That's alright!" Kevin said. "We'll just get a few drinks in you; you'll feel better in no time!"

"Kevin!" Tracy yelled. "Filling up with alcohol isn't a good way to avoid your problems-"

"Yeah sure whatever," he replied. "Women……. We'll be over in 2, Em."

"'Kay."

* * *

"No," Tracy said, sliding the beer away from my reach. "I'm not letting you drink until you tell me what's wrong."

"Come on, Trace, let me just have one drink!" I whined.

"Yeah. Let him drink it out," Kevin said.

"No. Embry, you can trust us. We know you better than anyone else. Tell us what's wrong!" Tracy rubbed my back. "Oh, wait, would this have anything to do with Aria?"

My eyes widened. "What?!"

"Kevin told me about you two," she replied.

I glanced darkly over at Kevin.

"Sorry?" he shrugged.

"You know, Embry," Tracy went on. "If she doesn't treat you right, then she's not even worth your time-"

"Yes, she _is!_" I clenched my fist on the bar counter.

"Woah, calm down, there," Kevin said.

"No, I'm not going to! You think you know everything about her and me, but you don't," I snapped again.

"What is there to know? You barely know each other!"

This time, I clenched my teeth. Kevin was really pissing me off.

"Did you happen to know that I've been in love with Aria for the past 7 years?!"

His eyes went wide.

"Yeah…… didn't think so," I said. "And you know what really fucking sucks?"

"What?" Tracy asked, sliding my drink back over to me.

"That I finally see her again and think that I may actually have a chance with her, only to find out that she's _engaged!_"

"That sucks," Kevin replied.

I snorted. "No shit."

"I'm sorry, Em, for judging you and all," he kept going. "I didn't know-"

"It's alright," I said, cooling down a little bit. "Now do you see why I _need_ a drink?!"

"Oh, Embry," Tracy said, looking sympathetically at me. "You don't need alcohol. You know what you need?"

"What?"

"To win her over," she grinned.

Win her over?

_Win her over?_

As in, make her fall in love with me?

Yeah, I guess that is what I needed.

But how in the hell was I supposed to do that?

* * *

**_A/N: Alrighty, I whipped this chapter up in like a day. (Can you tell?) I REALLY hope that it's okay. I know what I want to happen in the story, and it's gonna be really good, but I feel like I have to "build up" to those parts. Oh well. Remember: REVIEWS ARE LOVE!!!!! (And I'm always open for criticism! I want to know what you really think of my writing!) Well...... that's all for now, folks!_**


	6. Chapter 5: Hungover with Reality

***APOV***

"You told him?"

"Yeah."

"You told him like _that?_ Ar, you didn't even give him any warning!"

"He didn't need any warning!"

"Aria, you are so unbelievable!"

"Ugh," I groaned, sitting down at the table, putting my face in my hands.

I hated this. I hated when people made me feel guilty for something I _knew_ I did wrong. Especially when I didn't want to do it in the first place.

"I mean, you could have at least-"

"Alisa!" I shouted, startling her. "Alisa," I said softer this time, "It had to be done."

"No, it didn't."

"What the hell was I supposed to do?!" I threw my hands in the air. "Tell him the day I got married?! I had to tell him, to keep things from going further than they already were."

"But Embry-"

"You and I both know that this isn't about Embry," I said, my voice lowering. "You just don't want me to get married to Logan so badly that you're willing to do anything to break us up! Well you know what, Alisa? I'm sick of it!" I stormed out of the kitchen.

"No," I heard Alisa say, stopping me in my tracks. "I see the way Embry looks at you. That's why I want you to be with him. I wish that you saw it, too."

Little did she know that I already did.

Slamming my door, I flopped down onto my bed and screamed as loudly as I could into my pillow, trying my hardest not to think about Embry.

Or how happy he looked when he saw me today.

Or how cute he looked when he met my sister.

Or how nice it felt when his arm was around me.

And definitely not how hurt he looked when I told him I was engaged.

God, why was life so unfair?

Why couldn't I have met Embry 3 years ago? Then we wouldn't be in this mess. It was hard, not letting my true feelings show to him.

Like earlier today, when he leaned over and wiped the ketchup from my face, it was so hard not to kiss him.

And when we went to the Statue of Liberty, I really liked it when that lady to us that we were the cutest couple that she had ever seen.

But the hardest part was not breaking down crying when I told him the truth. I wanted so badly to wrap my arms around him, to tell him that, deep down, I wished that it was _him_ I was getting married to instead.

But I just couldn't do that.

I had to be with Logan, because at the end of the day, when all was said and done, it just wouldn't be fair any other way.

And it sucked.

Hard.

* * *

"Hey, hey, hey! Guess what it is today?" Kevin cheered as I clocked in for the morning.

"What?" I smiled fakely.

"The five year anniversary of this restaurant!" he replied.

"Oh, wow, really? That's awesome!"

"Yep," he sighed. "After all those times when me and Em wondered if it was even worth trying, after those months of struggling with the expenses, after all of the mood swings Tracey's put us through-"

"Hey! I heard that!" a female voice yelled from the kitchen.

"We finally made it," he grinned.

"Hey, Kevin! Do you remember what today is?" Embry asked as he walked through the door.

To my surprise, he was _smiling._

"Hell yeah! How could I forget?" Kevin replied.

Embry laughed.

Woah. Maybe he didn't take last night as bad as I thought?

"Morning, Aria," he smiled as he hung up his coat.

Um, definitely not as bad as I thought.

"Hey, how are you?" I smiled back.

"Great," he said convincingly, walking right past me.

Oh, I see what he was doing- the whole "I'm going to act like I don't care to piss you off" thing.

Well, he was doing a pretty good job of acting like he didn't care.

And he was doing a pretty good job of pissing me off.

What the hell was wrong with me? I was mad because Embry was _happy?_

I was now almost positive that I was going crazy.

And it was all his fault!

* * *

***EPOV***

"Maybe inviting everyone out to a bar wasn't the best way to celebrate," I said to Kevin, my voice drowning out thanks to the loud music and drunk people singing karaoke.

"What?" he yelled.

"I said," yelling back. "That maybe inviting everyone out to a bar wasn't the best way to celebrate!"

"Oh, yeah- I hear ya!" he gestured towards the stage, where an intoxicated Aria and a totally wasted (to all of our surprise) Kathie were slurring out "Summer Nights" at the top of their lungs,

"Who knew Kathie had it in her?" I chuckled.

"Not me!" he laughed, taking another shot.

I wasn't drinking much, which was really unlike me. But something deep down told me that it would be a bad idea, so I was just going to stay sober.

Aria hit a high note, making me cover my ears.

Maybe that was why I decided not to get wasted!

I looked up just in time to see her trip off the stage.

"OH, FACEPLANT!" Kathie yelled from her mike.

God, this was madness.

Rushing over to Aria, I helped her up as fast as I could.

"Are you okay?" I asked frantically.

She nodded, half-smiling. "Mhmmm. I'm sooooooooper!"

"No you're not," I laughed. "Aria, you're so boozed up it isn't even funny."

"Yur mean," she playfully shoved me away, causing her to almost fall again, but luckily I caught her just in time.

"I know. Aren't I horrible? Come with me," I said, leading her back over to our table.

"She can hardly stand up," Tracey noted as I helped Aria sit down.

"Exactly why I'm making her sit."

"Embry, go away. Yur not my dad!" she scratched my arm.

I ignored her. "This place is getting crazy."

"I know. This is why I don't stay late in bars. Kev, honey, can we please go?" Tracey begged Kevin. "We have a date with the wedding planner in the morning. Did you forget about that?"

"Oh, joy. I love that guy. He saves us _so_ much money!" he clapped sarcastically. "Yeah, I guess we should go. I'm getting tired anyway."

"Well, if you two are leaving, then I don't see the point in staying," I shrugged, getting up to leave with them.

"What about her?" Tracey pointed to Aria, who looked like she was about to pass out.

"Might as well take her, too. Aria," I tapped her on the shoulder. "Aria!"

"Hmmph," she mumbled.

"I'm taking you home."

* * *

"No!" she screamed. "I'm nah goin in the elevadur!"

"Aria," I rolled my eyes. "Please."

"No. You can't make me."

"Oh yes I can," I grinned, picking her up and slinging her over my shoulder.

"What floor's she on?" Kevin asked, ready to push the button.

"Eight," I replied.

When the elevator reached the eighth floor, Aria suddenly said, "Uh-oh."

_Shit! She's gonna puke all over this fucking elevator!_

"Get her off! STAT!" Kevin panicked.

"Okay, okay," I carried her off just in time.

She leaned over and vomited into a fake plant outside someone's front door.

I'd hate to be whoever had to clean that up.

"Embry," she began to cry. "I hate puking!"

"It's okay," I hugged her cautiously. "You'll be home in like two seconds. Your apartment's right down the hall."

I helped her stumble up to apartment 8401 and knocked on the door over and over again.

And over and over again

And over and over_ again._

_Maybe everybody's sleeping?_

Then I saw a note by the welcome mat:

_Aria- Matt and I decided to take a small trip to see his parents in New Jersey. Don't worry- we'll be back sometime tomorrow night. You know where the spare key is._

_Love, Alisa_

Great. How was Alisa supposed to remember anything while she was drunk?

Well, it was worth a try.

"Aria, do you know where to spare key is?" I asked.

"By tha carpet," she pointed to the welcome mat.

I lifted it up, only to reveal that there wasn't any key there.

"No, it's not."

"Ya huh!"

There was no use arguing with her.

Then I got an idea: I could take Aria back to my place.

It made perfect sense. I mean, even if we got inside her apartment, I couldn't just leave her alone! She needed someone to take care of her.

"Hey, Aria?"

"Huh?"

"You're coming with me."

* * *

"It's okay, it's okay," I rubbed Aria's back as I held her hair back for the fifth time.

"I……. hate…… puking!" she wailed as she stuck her head over the toilet.

"I know, I know. All done?"

She nodded.

"Here," I helped her up and wiped her face with a cool washcloth. "Feel better?"

"A lil."

I carried her back out to my bedroom and set her down on my bed.

Somehow, this was different from how I envisioned her being in my bed for the first time. Very different.

I dug through my dresser drawers and pulled out an old t-shirt.

"Put this on," I threw it at her. "Your clothes are dirty."

She just lie there.

"Don't tell me you need help."

She grunted.

"I'll take that as a yes," I chuckled.

After Aria was all cleaned up, I tucked her in my bed, got a bucket out of the utility closet (just in case), and set down a glass of water and some aspirin on the nightstand for her to take when she sobered up.

I turned off the lamp and walked over to the door. I was going to sleep on the couch; Aria probably wouldn't have wanted to sleep next to me anyway.

"Goodnight, Aria," I said as I shut the door.

"Embry," she shot up. "Don't leave me."

"What?"

"Stay with me."

I was confused. "Why?"

"Because I love you."

My heart skipped a beat. I remember reading something one time that said people spill out the truth when they're drunk, but then again, Kevin always tells me he loves me when he's hammered. Maybe she was just being silly.

"Aria," I went against what I wanted to do. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Please?" she begged. "Don't leave."

"Alright," I sighed, climbing into bed next to her, careful to keep my space from her.

She was probably going to be pissed in the morning. Oh well.

I was just about to fall asleep when I felt Aria move. Next thing I knew, her head was on my chest and her legs were wrapped around me, pulling me close to her.

_This is how things should be._

_Well, minus Aria being all hammered._

_Whatever. Cherish this moment!_

* * *

***APOV***

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that I had a massive headache.

The second thing I noticed was that I was in an unfamiliar place.

And the third thing I noticed was that Embry's arms were wrapped around me and I was cuddled into him.

Ignoring my headache, I smiled to myself and took a deep breath, taking in his scent. This felt really nice. Screw Logan- I was in a bed with Embry!

…….I was in a bed with Embry.

_I was in a bed with Embry?!?!_

Immediately, I sat up, waking Embry in the process.

"You suck!" I hit him in the face with a pillow.

"Good morning to you, too," he chuckled, stretching his arms above his head.

"What the hell, Embry!"

"What?" he asked sleepily.

I hit him with a pillow again.

"Will you stop hitting me?" he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Why did you take advantage of me like that?" I asked, tears forming in my eyes.

"Aria, what are you talking about?"

"Don't act like you don't know!" I shouted. "All I remember is going out to a bar and having some drinks. And now I'm in your _bed_? I can't believe that you had sex with me when I was too drunk to even-"

"Aria," Embry interrupted.

"No, don't even try to-"

"Aria," he said again, taking my hands in his. "I didn't have sex with you."

"Then why am I in your bed like this?"

He sighed. "You got drunk last night. I tried to take you back home, but no one was home and I couldn't find the key, so I just brought you back to my place. I took care of you and let you sleep in my bed. I was going to sleep on the couch, but you wanted me to stay with you, so I did. And _you_ were the one who was all over me."

"Oh," I whispered.

God, I was a bitch.

"Embry," I got tears in my ears again. "I'm so sorry. I'm such a bitch!"

"Hey, don't say that," he smiled.

"But I am!" I looked down. "I overreacted."

"It's okay."

I felt something rise up in my throat.

"Can you excuse me for a sec?" I asked, rushing to the bathroom.

* * *

"You're lucky it's a Sunday," Embry chuckled as he made eggs on the stove. "Apparently you don't do hangovers so well."

"Yeah, well, I don't get drunk too often, either."

"Then why was last night an exception?"

_Because I'm an emotional wreck._

"I don't really know," I said. "It just was."

Embry set two plates of eggs and bacon on the table and sat down across from me.

"I know it sucks to eat on hangovers, but you should try to get a something in your stomach, at least for the aspirin," he advised.

"Okay," I agreed, nibbling on a piece of toast. "Embry?"

"Hmmm?" His voice was muffled by the eggs he was eating.

"Thank you, for taking care of me and all."

He swallowed. "No problem."

"Seriously, that's one of the nicest things someone has ever done for me," I smiled. "It really is."

Embry sat there with a weird expression on his face. It looked like he was thinking hard about something.

"Whatcha thinking about?" I asked, trying to start another conversation.

"Nothing," he muttered.

"You sure?"

"No. Yes. I don't know," he replied. "I'm thinking about you."

I looked up from my plate. "Me?"

"Yeah. I'm thinking about how I've been reading way too much into you for the past 3 weeks."

"Really? Care to explain?"

He hesitated. "Call me crazy, but I just kind of thought that you acted like you were into me."

_That's actually the most sane thing I've heard in a while._

I decided to act like I didn't know what he was talking about.

"But I'm engaged."

"I know that. And then last night, you told me that you loved me."

"Was I drunk?"

"Yes."

_Dammit! Alisa always says that I blurt out all my secrets when I'm wasted…….._

"Embry, I'm sorry if I made you think that way. I only look at you as I friend," I lied.

I was getting better at ignoring my feelings by the minute.

"Okay," he sighed. "That's all I needed to know."

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," he smiled. "I'm glad that I'm just your friend."

"Good," I smiled back.

On the inside, part of me was upset. Was he lying?

I didn't need to be here anymore; things were getting uncomfortable. I racked my brain for an excuse.

"Well, I need to get back to my place and shower and stuff," I said as I got up. "Thanks again, Embry. I'll have to find some way to repay you."

"You don't have to do that!" he said. "I would have felt bad if I'd just left you alone."

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," I walked to his door.

"See ya."

* * *

When I walked onto the elevator, I was greeted by an old lady.

"Oh, honey. You look like you just came back from having sex at your boyfriend's place," she said.

Jeez, what was with old people in this city and making comments about my sex life?!

The sane, normal Aria would have denied such a weird comment.

But I didn't feel like being that girl right now.

"Yep, I did," I smiled.

How I wished that were true.

* * *

**A/N: Me and my friends think it's hilarious when old people crack sex jokes. Don't ask..... (I am also known to have a really effed up sense of humor, so if you don't get/like it, I understand.) I also feel like I'm making Aria out to be this huge bitch, but I'm not trying to! She's just a really confused girl that doesn't always think about stuff before she says it! I'm trying to un-bitch her, but it's complicated. Lol. So I hope you liked this chapter and that it didn't COMPLETELY suck. And remember, dear readers- COMMENTS ARE LOVE!!! Seriously, all of these reviews/alerts/faves make me smile lots! Well that's all for now. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 6: Lying Between the Lines

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight (SMeyer does.) Sometimes I wish I did, though. $$$$$$$$$$$$**

* * *

*APOV*

My eyes shot open as I heard the front door slam. Jumping out of bed, I ran out into the hall as fast as I could, not caring that my eyes were barely open.

I looked to my left and saw Matt helping Alisa walk down the hallway. He had a bag flung over his shoulder, and I suddenly realized what was going on.

"Hey!" I called out as I ran toward them. "Wait up!"

"Aria," matt said as soon as I caught up with them. "Go back to sleep. We'll be fine, don't worry."

"Why the hell didn't you guys wake me up?!"

"We thought you'd want to sleep and go to work," Alisa replied before stepping on the elevator.

"You think that stuff is more important to me than the birth of my own nephew?" I asked in disbelief.

"I dunno," she shrugged

"Well, I'm going to be by your side," I crossed my arms. "The whole entire time."

"You sure you wan to come? You're looking kind of rough this morning," Matt chuckled.

"Psssh…… since when have I ever been vain?"

"Since always. And nice pants," Alisa chuckled.

I looked down at my pants. Crap.

"I didn't know you liked Star Wars!" Matt laughed.

"Uhhhhh," I began. "Can I go back and change real quick?"

"Aria!"

"Alright, alright!" I held up hand up, only to have Alisa squeeze it as hard as she possibly could in pain as a contraction hit her.

Maybe I should have stayed in bed.

* * *

*EPOV*

"She's three hours late. Where the hell is she?!" I paced my office, running my fingers through my hair.

"Calm down," Kevin replied. "Maybe she overslept or something. Have you tried calling her?"

"Yeah, I have. And I keep getting her voicemail."

"That's weird."

"Oh my God...... What if she was in a car wreck?!" I exclaimed.

"What? She doesn't even drive a car! For the last time, calm down!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just, I don't know. I just feel really-"

"Protective of her? Yeah, I know. You've told me that 5 times already," he said.

I scowled.

"Let's change the subject. So, are you going to bring Aria to my wedding?"

"Guaranteed she's not dead, yeah," I mumbled under my breath.

Kevin turned to look at me.

"Holy crap," he said in disbelief. "I only have 4 days of freedom left. What should I do for my bachelor party?"

"I dunno," I shrugged. "Is Tracy giving you rules?"

"Rules?"

"Yeah. You know, like, 'No strippers, no drinking, no hookers.' That kind of thing."

"I'm pretty sure no hookers is always a rule," he started laughing.

"You know what I mean."

"Hmmm…… nah, she hasn't given me any rules. So don't mention anything to her, okay? Maybe she just forgot about it."

"Kevin!" Tracy bursted through my office door. "Honey, I've been looking all over for you. I want to talk to you about your bachelor party."

"_Dammit!"_

* * *

I decided to walk home from work that day. Yeah, it took me half an hour, but it gave me more time to think.

I started to wonder where Aria was, and if she was okay. I hoped that she didn't think I was crazy for leaving her 7 voicemails on her phone. But I was concerned, and I had every right to be.

I guess.

See, this is what was just so hard about not being in a relationship with your imprint, and them not knowing your secret. You either had to try your hardest to not be overprotective of them (which was extremely difficult), or if you were, then you had to constantly find excuses to keep them from thinking that you were an obsessive stalker, which usually didn't work.

Either way, you got screwed. The only solution was to tell your imprint the truth, which is about a zillion times harder than it sounds.

I kept thinking about that- telling Aria the truth. It tumbled in my mind over and over again. But there were always those 'What If's' that stopped me.

_What if she thinks I'm crazy?_

_What if she doesn't believe me?_

_What if she hates wolves?_

_What if she becomes scared of me?_

_What if she doesn't want to be around me anymore?_

And then there was the whole 'made for each other' thing. Sure, Aria and I are perfectly compatible, but imprinting puts a whole lot of pressure on her, too. I didn't want her to feel like she _had_ to be with me, just because I imprinted on her. I wanted her to be with me because she wanted to, out of her free will.

Ugh, this was so complicated.

Most of the time, I hated imprinting. I hated everything that it did to me.

I hated how it made me want only Aria.

I hated how it took away my choices.

I hated how, because of it, I'd been depressed out of my mind for 7 years.

But at the same time, I loved it.

I loved how I only had eyes for Aria.

I loved knowing that Aria and I were perfect for each other.

And most of all, I loved how it made me feel everytime I saw Aria smile, or laugh, or even look at me.

When I finally reached my apartment building, I saw a young woman walk onto the elevator. Immediately, I felt so relieved, because I knew that it was Aria.

I ran onto the elevator, and it was just the two of us.

"Long time, no see," I said as I pressed the button for my floor.

"Embry!" she exclaimed, hugging me. "Oh, crap." She let go. "Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because I totally just skipped work today, and I didn't even call! You see, my sister went into labor this morning, and I didn't have enough time to call, well, I forgot actually, but I was at the hospital all day and-"

"Aria," I interrupted her. "It's okay. It really is."

"So you're really not mad?"

"I was more concerned than mad."

She knitted her brow in confusion.

"You were concerned about me?"

I nodded. "You didn't show up at work; you weren't answering your phone. I didn't know what happened to you."

"Oh," she looked down at her feet in embarrassment. "I should have just called you."

"Yeah. So, I take it that your sister had her baby, then?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yep," she grinned.

"Congrats! Boy or girl?"

"A little boy named Max."

"That's a good name."

"Yeah, it is," she nodded. "Hey, Embry, do you want to come over? I'll cook some dinner for us."

"Of course!" I almost yelled in excitement. "I mean, that'd be great."

She laughed. "Okay."

The doors opened to the 8th floor, and Aria started walking off.

"Nice pants," I commented.

She turned around to stick her tongue out at me.

* * *

"This is, er, really good," I lied, taking a bite of what I assumed was spaghetti.

Aria turned to face me, frowning. "You don't have to lie. I know it's not that good."

"I'm not lying."

She gave me a look.

"Okay, well, I've had better spaghetti before, but this is still good."

"Spaghetti?"

"Yeah, that's what you made, right?"

"Uhhhh, sure," she replied, sighing. "I really should just give up cooking. I don't even like it that much."

"Then why did you offer to make me dinner?" I asked.

"Because I wanted to be like those housewives in the movies, always cooking for their husbands," she replied.

I perked up. "Husbands?"

"Did I say husbands?" she quickly asked, eyes wide. "I meant- I meant, like, uh, how people always, um, cook for their friends in the movies. Yeah. Friends."

"Oh, okay," I smiled.

_Sure that's what you meant._

"But obviously I can't be like that," she said, taking my plate away from me and scraping the food off into the garbage.

"If you're still hungry, we can walk a block to Wong's," I offered.

"What is Wong's?"

"Chinese food."

"Okay," she said, smiling now. "I love getting those fortune cookie things."

* * *

"What's your fortune say?" Aria asked me on our way back from dinner.

"'Good things happen to those who wait'," I said, squinting to read it under a streetlight in the park we were currently walking through. "What about yours?"

"'True love conquers even the largest of doubts," she read slowly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Maybe it means that when you really love somebody, everything will work out."

"That makes sense," she replied, sitting down on the edge of a fountain, wrapping her arms around her thin frame.

"Are you cold?"

"A little, but I'm fine."

"Okay. I have to ask you something," I said, sitting down right beside her.

"Go ahead," she turned towards me.

"Will you be my date for Kevin and Tracy's wedding? Just as friends," I added quickly at the end.

"Sure, Embry," she smiled. "I'd love to. But just as friends."

"Just as friends," I said again, smiling right back at her.

We sat in silence for the next few minutes, while Aria started to shiver.

"Are you sure you're okay? You keep shivering," I moved a little closer to her.

"I'm fine, really."

Ignoring her, I hesitantly put my arms around her, pulling her closer to my chest.

Surprisingly, she didn't pull away.

"Better?" I asked softly.

"Yes," she whispered. "A lot better."

My heart was thumping hard in my chest; I hoped that she couldn't hear it. It was just making me insanely happy to be this close to Aria again.

She turned to look at my face, her eyes starting right into mine. She was so beautiful. This time, I had such a strong urge to kiss her that I couldn't possibly fight it. I had to.

* * *

*APOV*

Embry and I were sitting in the park, his arms around me. I knew it was wrong, but at that point, I didn't even care. All that I cared about was Embry and how good it felt to be this close to him again.

I turned to look up at him. My heartbeat quickened when I saw that cute little smile creep onto his face. Next thing I knew, Embry's lips were pressed against mine, and it was almost too good to be true, like a dream. I kissed him back, slowly at first, then rougher. His hands moved down to my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself even closer to him. As his tongue entered my mouth, I started to feel dizzy, like maybe I really _was_ in a too-good-to-be-true dream.

But the guilt that hit me like a bus reminded me that I definitely was in reality.

"Embry," I breathed, pulling away from him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked with concern.

"We're……. we're crossing that line again."

"Line? Oh, right. That line."

I felt like crying, especially when I saw that look of disappointment flash across his face.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, looking straight ahead so that he couldn't see that I was tearing up.

"It's not your fault. I really shouldn't have been all over you. I just- I just couldn't help it, I guess," he said as he traced circles on the concrete fountain with his thumb.

"We just need to make sure our boundaries are set."

"Okay. What are our boundaries?"

"We just have to remember that we can only be friends," I said, ignoring the voice that was screaming inside of me to tell him how I _really _felt. "We can't ever cross that line again, ever."

"Is that really what you want?"

I took a deep breath as I prepared myself to lie to him again. "Yes, it's what I really want."

"Okay, that's how things are going to be, then. We can just go on pretending like this never happened."

I watched as Embry got up and just walked away. And with every step he took, the feeling of despair in my stomach grew.

I waited until he was gone to let my tears fall.

* * *

**A/N: To everybody who reviews/alerts/faves- HUUUUUUGE HUGS!!!!! *hugs* People who alert and fave but don't comment- PLEASE COMMENT! I'd really love to know what you think about what I write. As always, thanks for taking the time out of your day (or night) to read my story.**


	8. Chapter 7: Reception Deception

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight because I'm not Smeyer. If I was Smeyer, I would be writing books about sparkly mermaids right now, but alas, I am not, so I actually have a small fraction of a life. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

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*EPOV*

From the little side room in the church, we could all hear the chatter of people sitting in their pews, just waiting for the ceremony to start.

I chuckled to myself as I thought of Kevin. He was probably standing in front of the alter, nervous as hell, wiping his sweaty hands every two minutes. He was looking forward to getting married, but this big of a commitment scared the shit out of him.

I honestly couldn't blame the guy. After Tracy gave him 'rules' for his bachelor party, he went into full- out freak mode.

~Flashback~

"_Em, what's she gonna control next?!"_

"_Oh, come on, Kevin. She just wants to make sure you don't do anything too crazy."_

"_Yeah, right. First, it's my bachelor party. What will it be next? Where I can go? What time I can leave the apartment? When I can shit and speak?"_

"_I think you're being way too overdramatic."_

"_Oh my God……. What if she turns into one of those physco-wives that force their husbands to wear polo shirts and crocs?! I hate crocs!"_

"_You really need to-"_

"_I HATE CROCS!!"_

_~End of Flashback~_

But it was probably just due to being stressed out.

Well, I could only hope, anyway. I didn't need my best friend to lose his mind at 26.

"Boys," the wedding planner poked her head through the door. "The ceremony's starting. We need you out here and next to your partner."

Right. I almost forgot. I was the best man, and Tracy's sister, Becca, was the maid of honor, which meant that we had to walk down the aisle together.

I thought about the last time I saw Becca, and silently prayed to God that she was different.

"Hi, Embry," Becca's voice cooed.

Nope- she was still the same.

"Oh, hey," I said, hoping to keep her from talking even more.

"So what brings you here?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.

_Did she just bat her eyelashes at me?_

"I'm the best man."

_Duh._

"And I'm the maid of honor. So that means…… we get to walk down the aisle together!"

"Yay," I said unenthusiastically.

This girl never knew when to quit.

"Okay, everyone. Take your places," the wedding planner said again as the doors to the church opened and music began to play.

I winced with disgust as Becca linked her arm with mine.

Don't get me wrong- it's not like I hated Becca or anything.

There were just a few problems with her:

Like, she constantly threw herself at me every time I saw her.

She was extremely annoying.

She couldn't take a hint!

And she just wasn't Aria.

"Are you ready?" she smiled as we started walking.

_No._

I kept my gaze focused straight ahead, just trying to make it to the end of the aisle. The sooner we got there, the sooner I could let go of this annoying girl.

When I looked at Kevin, I saw him smirking at me. He knew about Becca. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised If he made me his best man just to get a joke out of me walking down the aisle with her.

But when I paid closer attention to him, I could see the beads of sweat pricking at his forehead. I sort of wanted to crack up, but the same time I felt sorry for him. Oh well. I was just glad that Tracy was the one who had to hold his hands, not me.

As soon as Becca and I got in front of the alter, we unlinked arms and walked our separate ways. The bridal march began to pick up as I turned around just in time to see the doors open, revealing Tracy in a huge white wedding dress.

It seemed like all eyes were completely focused on her, except for mine. My eyes were focused on the beautiful woman in the middle of the twelfth pew, in her red dress, with her dark hair pulled back into a bun.

I tried to fight the huge smile that was starting to spread across my face.

My date actually showed up.

* * *

***APOV***

"Aria!" I heard a familiar voice shout as I walked into the church.

Looking to my left, I saw Kathie waving to me, from the middle of a pew.

"Over here!" she yelled.

I took a seat in the middle of the pew, right next to her, careful not to wrinkle the nice red dress I was wearing. Sure, you were supposed to get dressed up for weddings, but the sick, twisted part of my brain knew who I was _really_ getting dressed up for.

It's like I was constantly contradicting myself.

"Wow, you look hot!" Kathie laughed, looking me up and down. "I love how you did your hair."

"Really?" I blushed, reaching back to touch the bun on the back of my head. "It's just a simple bun, that's all."

"Well, it looks good. Oh- Aria," she grabbed my arm. "This is my boyfriend, Dave."

"Hey," a big guy with a low voice said. "I'm Dave."

"Aria," I held my hand out. "Nice to meet you."

"Oh, I just love weddings," Kathie mused as she reached into her purse and fumbled around for something. "But I always end up crying. Kleenex?" she asked, holding out a pack of tissues.

"I think I'll be good," I replied.

Suddenly, music began to start playing.

"The ceremony's starting!" Kathie whisper-yelled.

The whole room got quiet as the bridal couples started walking down the aisle.

I looked at each groomsmen as they made their way down the aisle, hoping that one of them was Embry.

_He's gonna look so good in his tux…….._

Snapping out of my thoughts, I watched as Embry finally made his way down. He was looking straight ahead, while the girl on his arm had a huge smile plastered across her face, like she was a beauty queen or something.

And, as crazy as this sounds, I actually felt _jealous_ of her.

Not because her hair was in a pretty up-do.

Or because she had the perfect boobs to fill out her dress.

And no, not even because all of the attention was on her.

It was because she was touching him, walking with him. They were a couple! Well, a couple for the wedding, at least. And I could tell that she was enjoying every minute of it, too. She seemed really into him, and it started to piss me off.

_Woah, woah. I need to calm down. It's only for a wedding……. It's only for a wedding. Besides, Embry asked me to be his date, not her, so why am I stressing over this?_

When Embry finally let go of her and stood next to Kevin, I felt relieved.

The doors opened, and the bridal march started to play. Everybody turned to watch Tracy descend down the aisle, with her breathtaking dress. She looked glowing. I got butterflies in my stomach when I looked at Embry out of the corner of my eye and saw him looking at me.

"Marriage is such a beautiful thing," the minister began as Tracy finally reached Kevin.

All throughout the ceremony, I had trouble paying attention.

The only person I could focus on was the best man.

* * *

"And now," the DJ's voice boomed through the speakers. "Let's give a warm welcome to……. The bridal party!"

Everyone cheered as the bridal couples walked into the reception hall under an arch.

I stopped clapping the second I saw that chick all over Embry again.

"Ugh," I said to Kathie, turning around to sip my drink. "What is up with that chick? She's all over Embry."

"Oh, her? Yeah, I noticed that, too. Don't sweat it, sweetie," she squeezed my shoulder. "Wait- are you jealous?"

"No!" I replied. "Why would I be jealous?"

"I don't know, you just seem like you're jealous. It's okay; us women can't help it sometimes."

"Kathie, I'm_ not_ jealous," I repeated, taking a gulp of my drink before walking over to Kevin and Tracy.

"Hey, guys," I smiled. "Congrats. The wedding was beautiful."

"Awwww," Tracy blushed, pulling me in for a hug. "Thank you!"

"So, Aria," Kevin began. "Where's your date?"

I searched the room, before finding Embry over by the bar, with that stupid girl still stuck on him.

"At the bar," I said in disgust.

"Maybe you should go over there and snag him. Well, talk to you later, Aria," he said as Tracy took his hand and started walking away.

Was Embry doing this on purpose? Was he trying to make me jealous? I sauntered over to the bar. If he wanted to play that game, then fine. Two could play.

"Excuse me," I said in a flirty voice to the bartender as I slid up on a bar stool. "I need a drink."

I saw Embry perk up and glance in my direction. Good, he could hear me.

"What do you need, toots?" an old guy with a gray beard and a floral shirt said as he leaned in closer to me.

Great. I tried to seduce the bartender without even looking at him first.

"Uhhh," I said, thinking of a way to abort my plan. "I'll just have a Corona on draft," I sighed.

"You sure that's all you need?" he asked, winking at me.

"Positive," I answered, my lip curled up slightly in disgust.

"Here you go," he handed me a glass overflowing with beer.

"Thanks," I slapped down a $5 on the counter.

Careful not to spill anything, I slowly made my way back to the table. I looked down at the glass and sighed. Unless I wanted to make a complete ass of myself tonight, this was going to be the only drink I'd be consuming.

* * *

"Will you stop staring over there?" Kathie asked, panting out of breath from dancing with Dave. "You keep looking over at him all night. Get up and talk to people."

"Oh, right. That's a good idea. Especially since my date decided to abandon me for the night," I huffed in annoyance.

I couldn't believe Embry; he asked me to be his date, yet he was going around with some other girl who wasn't me! He didn't even fucking _talk_ to me. He had some nerve.

Making my way over to the wedding cake, I was stopped by an old woman.

"Hello," she said, smiling warmly. "I'm Kevin's grandmother, Lucille. You must be one of him and Tracy's friends."

"Yes, I'm Aria," I smiled back. "It's nice to meet you. Are you enjoying the reception?"

"Oh yes," she replied. "Are you?"

"Sure I am……."

After we chatted for a few minutes, I decided to excuse myself to get some cake.

As I made my way back to the table again (for the millionth time that night), I remembered what Embry said to me about how the restaurant was named after Kevin's grandma from Italy. I decided to set out and find her at this reception. At least it would give me something to do.

I spotted Kevin embracing an old lady and decided to make my approach.

"Well hello again, Aria!" Kevin grinned as I came closer. "Let me introduce you to my grandma. Grandma, this is my friend, Aria. Aria, this is my Grandma."

"It's so nice to meet you," I said. "You know, we share the same name. I think it's so cool that you're from Italy."

"Darlin', we don't have the same name," the woman said in a southern twang. "I'm Kevin's Grandma Betty, from Arkansas."

"Oh," I said, confused. "I'm sorry. I thought that your name was-"

"It ain't no big deal," she laughed.

In that moment, I felt like a downright idiot. Embry either lied to me, or both of Kevin's grandmas did. It was pretty obvious what the answer was.

As I walked away, I felt someone grab my arm. I spun around and came face-to-face (or face-to-chest) with the liar himself.

"Hi," he said.

"Wow. That's all you have to say to me?"

"Aria, look, I'm sorry-"

"No. You invite me to this wedding, and then you don't even say anything to me. Good thing Kathie's here, because if she wasn't, then I would be alone, sitting in the damn corner while you run around with some girl that you-"

"What? You don't think I'm with that girl, do you?"

"Of course not, Embry," I said sarcastically. "Why would I think that? She's just all over you. And you don't even seem to mind. So, of course I don't think you're together!"

"Aria, I'm not with that girl. That's Becca, Tracy's sister. She's had this crush on me for a long time, and every time she sees me, I can't get away. I was just trying to be polite and get away without her noticing, but I had to wait for the right time and-"

"Why should I believe you?" I squinted my eyes at him. "You've lied to me once already. Why should I be so sure that you won't do it again?"

He wrinkled his nose, something he always did when he was confused, and spoke, "What are you talking about?"

"You lied to me about the name of the restaurant. I know both of Kevin's grandmas now, and their names are _Lucille _and _Betty._ Why did you lie to me about that, huh?" I put my hands on my hips. "If you lie to me about insignificant shit like that, then how do I know if you're telling the truth about more serious stuff?"

A slow song started to play, and that Becca girl started making her way over toward us, flapping her arms about, shouting, "Embry, Embry! Dance with me!"

"Shit," he muttered. "Pretend to be my girlfriend."

"What?! Why would I want to pretend to-"

"I need to get away from her. Please?" he begged.

"Fine," I rolled my eyes. "But you better start explaining."

"Embry," the girl said, panting from running frantically all over the damn reception. "Do you want to dance?"

Embry opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.

"Actually, he's dancing with _me_," I clarified.

"And you are?"

"His girlfriend. Isn't that right, babe?" I smiled, wrapping my arms around Embry and cuddling against him.

He owed me big time.

But then again, this wasn't so bad…….

"Y-Yeah," he stuttered.

As I watched Becca storm off, I couldn't stop smiling.

_Serves that bitch right._

I led Embry to the dance floor and went on my tiptoes to put my arms around his neck.

"A little help, here."

"Oh, right. Sorry," he laughed, leaning down a little to put his arms around my waist. "So…….. you were pretty convincing."

"I know," I smirked. "Did you see the look on her face? She totally had it coming."

"You don't like her very much, do you?"

"No way!" I snorted. "Do you?"

"Well, she's not a bad person, exactly, but she just- Okay, yeah. I don't like her very much," I sighed.

"I don't really blame you. And I'm glad you feel that way."

Our hips swayed together to the music.

"You're glad, huh?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Hey, I know what you're thinking! I'm not jealous. Boundaries, remember?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. I remember."

"So, I believe that you, my friend, have some explaining to do," I said, trying to change the subject.

"Ugh, fine."

I looked up at him expectantly.

"I guess I'll tell you the truth," he said.

"That's all I'm asking for."

"Okay," he took a deep breath. "Remember how I said that I knew you from graduation?"

I nodded.

"Well, don't laugh, alright? But I had this crush on you for like three years after I saw you."

I smiled up at him, getting butterflies in my stomach again.

"And then, when Kevin and I opened the restaurant, we had to think of names. Well, I thought of you, and we both decided that your name sounded good with it.

"Why didn't you tell me the truth before?"

"Because you barely even knew me. I didn't want you to think that I was a stalker or something."

"Embry," I laughed. "I wouldn't have thought you were a stalker. So, any more things that you need to clarify for me?"

"Nope," he smiled. "I told you the truth about everything else."

"Good boy," I laughed, patting him on the top of his head as the song ended.

It was amazing how I could be so unhappy with him one minute, then completely amazed by him the next.

I was too lazy to let go of him and walk away. Well, actually, I didn't _want_ to walk away. I wanted to stay like this, with him, forever.

'You and Me' by Lifehouse started playing next, and I moved even closer to Embry, inhaling his scent as we moved.

Eventually, I looked up at his face and saw him looking at me again in _that_ way. Just by the look on his face, I could tell what was going through his mind. And I had to pretend like I didn't want the same thing he did.

Even though, in that moment, it seemed like the one thing I wanted most in the world.

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**A/N: I wrote this chapter in like an hour, so sorry if it's not very good! I don't have alot of time to write anymore, so I try to take as much advantage of an hour as I can. Well, ARIA ARIA ARIA. What can I say about that girl? She needs to make up her damn mind! Well, I guess you'll all just have to wait and see what happens. I already know, but I'm not telling a soul. *evil laughs* Please loves- review/alert/fave/do something! And thank you all for reading my story! I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to log on here and see how many people like what I write.**

**That's all for now, folks!**


	9. Chapter 8: Returning to the Rez

**Disclaimer: I am not Stephanie Meyer (as you can tell by my lack of the usage of "chagrin.") Alas, I do not own Twilight.

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*APOV*

"Hey," I said, softly closing the door behind me.

I just got home from Kevin and Tracey's wedding, and it was around 2 in the morning.

"What are you still doing up?" I asked Alisa as I walked over to sit by her on the couch.

"This little guy," she gestured towards the little baby she was feeding in her arms.

"Hey, sweetie," I cooed, leaning over to kiss my nephew's forehead. "Can I ask you something?" I looked up at my sister.

"Sure."

"Um," I bit down on my lip. "When you and Matt were engaged, did you ever…… uh, well-"

"Just spit it out."

"Did you ever like another guy?" I asked timidly.

She pouted her lip. "What do you mean?"

"Like, did you ever find yourself falling for other guys? Or were you _tempted_?"

"Tempted?" she tapped her chin. "Yeah, I was tempted. Sometimes I'd see a really good-looking guy walking down the street or something, but they were just guys. I'd always forget about them the second I thought about Matt."

"Oh," I looked down.

She looked puzzled. "Is that the answer you were looking for?"

"Not exactly."

"Oh," she replied. "_Ohhh."_

It finally clicked for her.

"Well, if we're talking about what I think we're talking about, then I'd say that in your case, it's not normal," she added.

"Right."

"And I think we both know the reason why," she smirked.

"Not helping."

"I'm just giving you my honest opinion."

We sat there in silence for the next five minutes.

"So…… how was the wedding?" Alisa asked, trying to start a conversation.

"It was good," I quickly responded.

I knew what she was trying to get to.

"And your date?"

"Can we please not talk about this right now?" I asked, looking at her pleadingly. "Here," I reached out to take the baby. "I'll feed him his bottle; you head off to bed. You look like you could really use some sleep."

"Okay. Thanks, Ar," she smiled as she got up from the couch.

"Anytime."

"Oh, and you know- sometimes you have to give into your _temptations_," she winked.

I rolled my eyes and focused all of my attention on the hungry baby in my arms.

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***EPOV***

"You know what I've decided?" Aria asked as we sat around an empty table on Monday afternoon.

Business was extremely slow, and all we could do on days like this was sit around and talk.

"What?" I asked.

"I want to get married in La Push," she declared.

"La Push? Why there? You always talk about how boring that place is."

"Well, it's my home. And it's actually a pretty beautiful place. Wouldn't it be nice, getting married on top of a cliff or on First Beach?"

"I guess so," I shrugged.

Talking about Aria's wedding made me want to vomit.

"I just got the greatest idea!" Aria exclaimed.

"This outta be good. What's your 'great idea?'"

"Well, I haven't really chosen a venue for the wedding yet."

"Okay."

"And when you're looking for a place to get married at, you go and take a look at it, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, how about you and I go up to La Push this weekend?!" she clapped. "We can visit our families and friends, and I can look around for a place to get married!"

I wasn't entirely happy about that idea.

"Why do you want me to be there? Don't you want your fiance' there with you instead?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"Nah. He just pays for the stuff I pick out, anyways. He could care less. Besides, Embry, you're one of my best friends," she smiled at me.

_Great. I'm starting to think that's all we'll ever fucking be._

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Aria," I said, leaning back in my chair. "I haven't seen or talked to my old friends in so long, and my mom……. Well, I didn't exactly leave on the best terms."

"You'll have to go back sometime, why not now?"

I tapped my fingers on the table, trying to decide what to do.

"Please, Embry?" she asked, her large brown eyes staring back at me.

That was all it took to convince me.

"Alright," I sighed. "I'll go."

* * *

"I.D.'s and boarding passes, please," a security guard asked us as we made our way to the terminal.

"Crap," Aria set her bag down and started rummaging through it. "Here it is," she pulled out a card from her wallet.

The guard looked it over before inspecting my card.

As soon as he was done, we started walking towards our flight gate.

I felt my stomach growl, and I knew that I had to eat something soon.

"Can we get some lunch? I'm starving," I held my stomach.

"Sure. I'm getting really hungry, too. I think there are some restaurants this way," Aria said, walking in front of me.

"No, dear," I laughed, grabbing her shoulders and turning her around. "This way."

"Psssh….. I knew that! I was just testing you."

"Sure you were."

An hour later, we were still eating and in the middle of laughing over something Aria said when we heard a female voice over the loudspeakers in the airport.

"Flight 107 to Seattle, now boarding. Last chance for boarding for Flight 107 to Seattle."

"Seattle?" Aria murmured, looking around for her boarding pass. "I don't see our flight number on here."

I leaned over, touching my head against hers to read it.

"Here it is," I pointed with my finger. "Flight……. 107 to Seattle."

"_Shit!_" Aria yelled, standing up. "We have to go! We're gonna miss our flight. Dammit, dammit, _dammit_!"

We grabbed our suitcases and bolted to our gate, laughing at our stupidity.

When we reached the gate, we were breathing hard from running. The flight attendant was just about to shut the door.

"Wait!" I yelled. "We're on this flight."

She turned to me and gave me a look that could kill.

"Well," she spat. "That's too bad. You should've been on time."

Aria looked at me worriedly, biting her lip.

"Our luggage has already been loaded," I began slowly. "And there's something kind of important in there. You see, it's a rare kind of poisonous squirrel from Scotland- and although it's been sedated we've just realized we forgot to secure the padlocks on the crate!"

The flight attendant clearly wasn't buying my story, and I looked over at Aria expectantly.

"Yes," she replied, her voice a little uncertain as she tried to think of more things to say. "We were dispatched by the local zoological authority, and we have the spare sedatives with us, just in case it makes its way into the cabin... but naturally if you'd prefer for us to stay here, and you'd be happy to administer them yourself, we can let you have them."

She was trying to keep from smiling.

" Stay away from the teeth, and the claws," I added. "Oh, and the sedative may have made it drool a little, so don't let it drool on you or the venom will escape….. But don't worry, the venom's only slightly deadly!"

The blonde attendant blinked a few times.

"But it has been shown to have adverse affects on blondes," Aria trailed off. "I mean, well, it can sometimes be serious if you're not careful."

"Do you honestly think I haven't heard that one before?!" the blonde snapped.

"Uhhh," Aria stuttered.

"Wow, and I thought we were being creative……."

"Yeah, you might need to work on that. Sorry, but I'm not letting you on," she narrowed her eyes at us.

"Okay, look, blondie," Aria stepped forward, hands on her hips. "We aren't really supposed to tell you this, but we're here as official, undercover judges for the air-hostess of the year award... we're supposed to be impartial judges, but right now, you're making me VERY partial!!"

I tried to keep from laughing as a worried look crossed the attendant's face.

"Yeah," I said. "You'll barely make it into the top 50 at this rate."

"But there are only 5 hostesses on this flight!" she pointed out.

"Exactly."

"Okay, if I let you on, can we pretend like this never happened?" she begged. "I just…… I really want to win that award! I want to prove to my dad that being a flight attendant _is_ something to be proud of! All my life, this has been my dream, and he just-"

"Woah, woah," Aria held up her palm. "Sorry, but we're air-hostess of the year judges, not counselors!!"

"Alright," the flight attendant muttered. "Give me your boarding passes and I'll scan them."

"Wow," I whispered to Aria as we made our way onto the plane. "I can't believe that actually worked!"

"I know, right? And I have to give some props to you- the poisonous squirrel was really creative," she laughed. "We'll just have to see if that one will work next time."

Next time?

Did Aria just say next time?

I thought about what she meant by that as I lifted our bags up into the overhead compartment.

The whole flight, that pesky blonde kept coming over to us, asking if we needed anything to drink, or a pillow, or some snacks…….. it was extremely annoying.

Yet I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit guilty for lying to her about the whole "Air Hostess of the Year Award" thing.

But then I remembered how bitchy she was, and realized that she totally deserved it.

About the 50-millionth time she came around, she asked if we wanted anything to drink. _Again._

"Well?" the blonde tapped her foot. "Are you going to order anything or not? I'm tired of waiting in this aisle."

"Top fifty," Aria coughed.

"What? Oh, right," she blonde quickly replied. "I mean, take your time."

"We don't want anything to drink," Aria said. "So go take a nap or something. You could really use it, obviously."

The flight attendant scowled and walked away.

"For this kind of service," Aria said in my ear. "I think I'll tell the flight attendants that 'Air Hostess' shit every time!"

"You're bad," I laughed.

"Yeah, but not as bad as Blondie."

"She's a real bucket of sunshine, don't you agree?" I asked sarcastically.

"Definitely," Aria smiled, then yawned. "I think I'm gonna take a nap. Will you wake me up before we land?"

"Sure."

"Thanks," she replied as she curled up with a blanket.

I grabbed a magazine from the seat in front of me and started reading it. It was a Sports Illustrated.

I remember when Quil used to always read these. Or was it just the bikini edition?

Chuckling to myself, I realized how much I missed my friends. I missed everyone- Jacob, Quil, Jared, Sam- hell, I even missed Paul and Leah!

And then there was my mom.

What was she going to do when I showed up unexpectedly on her doorstep?

Back in high school, after I joined the pack, she was always grounding me. According to her, I was 'sneaking out' and lying to her. I remember how she used to beg and plead for me to stop and go back to being the good boy I once was.

Little did she know that I _was_ being a good boy.

And then there was the day I left. That was really hard. I didn't tell anyone what I was going to do. I tried to not even think about it during patrols. I knew what would've happened if people knew; they wouldn't have let me leave. They would have tried to make me stay, my mother especially. But I know that I couldn't have dealt with that.

So, I packed my bags and just left.

As soon as I got to New York, people were freaking out. Jake called me about a million times on my cell phone, Quil wouldn't stop texting, and Sam left me about a zillion voicemails lecturing me about how irresponsible and inconsiderate I was being.

And then there was my mom. I can still remember, crystal clear, how her voice sounded on the phone when I talked to her for the first time after I left.

"_Embry," my mother sobbed from the other line. "Sweetie, where are you?!"_

"_I'm in New York, Ma."_

"_New York?! NEW YORK? Embry Joseph Call, what are you doing in New York?!?!"_

"_I'm going to make a name for myself, get some better opportunities," I replied. "I'm tired of La Push."_

"_Embry," she said, her voice cracking. "Honey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for ever grounding you, or fighting with you, or nagging at you. I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you leave! Please, just come back."_

"_Mom, I can't come back."_

"_Why not?" she started crying again. "You didn't even say goodbye. Your friends don't even know where you are. They're worried about you. Come back!"_

"_I already told you why," I said slowly. "I'm going to make a better life here than I ever will on the rez."_

_I was lying to her, but I didn't care. It was something I was used to._

"_You're breaking my heart, Embry!" she sobbed again. "We all want you back; just come back!"_

"_I can't, Mom. I just can't."_

After I left, the pack tried to get in touch with me. Emails, text messages, phone, MySpace, Facebook- all that stuff. But I never replied back to them. It just hurt too much. Every time I thought about them, I thought about imprinting, and how I would never be with my imprint. What was the point in making myself depressed? So I just tried to forget about them and move on with my life.

Not like I could, though. Every day, I thought about what I left- _who_ I left. And I'll admit, there are sometimes- okay, a lot of times- when I'd wish that Quil or Jake were still just right down the street. But they weren't, and there was no use dwelling over it, so I met new people.

I felt something hit my arm, and when I looked over, Aria was fast asleep, cuddled against my chest. Part of me wanted to lift her off me, but another part of me wanted her to stay like that.

So I thought 'Why wake her up?' and just let her keep on sleeping.

An elderly woman waddled down the aisle and stopped when she saw us.

"Young love," she smiled sweetly before moving along.

Great……. I always hated when that happened, mostly because it just reminded me even more of the truth_-_ that Aria and I weren't together, even though we sort of looked like it.

If we saw the pack in La Push, I hoped to God that they wouldn't assume that she was with me. Because then, I would just have to explain the whole entire story to them. And, well, to be honest, the real story sucks.

I was probably still the only member in the pack who was alone. Seth, Colin, and Brady probably imprinted on available girls, and Leah probably found somebody as equally bitter and unpleasant as her.

I think the universe hated me.

I mean, think about it- I didn't know my father, I had to deal with the pain of being a shapeshifter, and then, on top of it all, everyone else in the world falls in love and gets married while I sit back in the misery of my single status.

Yep, I was definitely hated. But what did I ever do to deserve it?

Aria stretched out her arms and mumbled something as she started to wake up.

Blinking a few times, she mumbled, "Are we still on the plane?"

"Yup."

"Joy," she replied. "By the way, you make a really comfy pillow."

"Thanks," I laughed. "Feel free to sleep on me anytime."

"Will do."

* * *

"My mom can be a bit……. Er, overbearing at first, so don't be alarmed, okay?" I told Aria as we walked up to the front door of my old house. "She means well."

"Okay," she replied. "My mom can be like that, too."

I knocked on the door twice and was greeted by a man in his boxers.

"Howdy…… who are you two?" he asked.

Aria and I looked at each other in confusion.

"George, who's at the door?" a female voice called out from inside.

I was thinking about George and wondering what he was doing in my house when I peered into the house and saw my mom in a bathrobe.

Ew. I didn't need to know what he was doing here anymore. Unfortunately, I kind of unintentionally figured that one out.

"Embry?" my mom called out in disbelief. "Is that you? Shit! Uh, I'll be right out. George, close the door."

George just shrugged and slammed the door, leaving us standing on the front porch.

When I looked at Aria, mortified, she started cracking up.

"Why are you _laughing?_" I asked. "I just got scarred for life!"

"I dunno," she laughed. "You just…… you're blushing so bad, Embry."

"Great," I crossed my arms.

"Aw, come on- laugh a little. Besides, you're cute when you blush."

My head perked up.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you are," she smiled softly.

We stood there, just looking at each other, moving closer……..

But then the door busted open.

"Embry, honey, I'm sorry about that," my mom apologized, moving closer to crush me in a hug. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Ma," I hugged her back.

"How's life? What have you been doing in New York?" she asked me, before eyeing Aria up and down.

"Uh, not much, really. Mom, this is Aria. Aria, this is my mom."

"Hi, Aria," my mom smiled sweetly, holding out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you….. Mrs. Call," she replied, shaking her hand.

"Oh, just call me Lisa."

Looking down at Aria's hand, I knew what my mom saw the second her eyes lit up.

"Is that an engagement ring?" she asked excitedly, inspecting Aria's hand.

"Uhhh, yeah, it is," she replied, pulling her hand away.

"Embry!" my mom practically shouted. "When were you going to tell me that you were engaged?!"

"Mom, I'm not engaged," I replied.

"What? Oh," she mumbled.

"Sorry."

"That's alright. So Aria, who's the lucky guy?" she asked.

"Oh, you probably wouldn't know him," Aria waved it off, like she was uncomfortable where the conversation was going.

"Well, why don't you two come in? You can explain why you're back, Embry, and how life's going while I cook dinner."

"I don't know about that, Mom. We were gonna go over to Aria's house next-"

"No, let's stay here," Aria interrupted. "Besides, I want to meet George," she smirked at me.

"Excellent!" my mom clapped. "Well, come on in."

"I hate you," I stuck my tongue out at Aria as we walked inside.

"I know," she grinned.

* * *

"Oh no!" my mom whined an hour later, just as she was starting to cook dinner on the stove.

"What's wrong?" George asked.

George. Ugh. Apparently my mom had been dating this guy for 3 months without bothering to tell me. She probably knew that he would annoy this piss out of me, and if she didn't, then she probably knew now, judging by the looks I kept giving him.

"I forgot to buy tomatoes earlier today at the store!" she said as she put a pot on the counter. "And I can't make dinner without tomatoes."

"Do you need someone to go to the store?" George pressed on.

"That would be great," Mom smiled.

"Okay. Embry, would you go to the store and buy us some tomatoes?" he turned to ask me.

I felt my anger rise up.

"Why don't _you_ go?" I spat.

I felt Aria rub my arm to calm me down.

"Embry, don't," she said. "It's okay, George. We'll go to the store. How many tomatoes do we need to get?"

"Six."

"Alright. Come on, Embry, let's go," she pulled on my arm as she started heading to the door.

I plopped down into the driver's seat and rested my head on the steering wheel.

"What's wrong?" Aria asked softly.

"Nothing," I mumbled as I turned the key into ignition.

"No," she said, taking the key out. "Tell me."

"Nah. It's dumb, anyways."

"I can tell you're upset. And it's probably not dumb."

"Fine," I sighed, giving in. "Have you ever noticed how I don't talk about my father?"

She nodded.

"That's because I don't have one. Actually, I've never had a dad. I don't even know who he is. My mom's never bothered to tell me who he is, and she doesn't even talk about him that much."

She reached out and rested her hand against my arm.

"And all my life, she's had guys come in and out, hoping that one of them would be the right guy. But they never are; all they are are a bunch of douchebags!" I hit the dashboard in frustration. "I'm just tired of it. She needs to realize that she deserves better."

"You only care so much because you love her."

"I just…… I just wish I had a dad," I frowned. "It would have made my life so much easier if he would've been around."

Aria reached up to brush some of my hair out of my face.

"Sometimes life isn't fair," she said.

"Yeah, tell me about it," I snorted.

"But that's life. You get through it," she smiled.

"Maybe you do, but I don't."

* * *

"Do you see any tomatoes?" I asked Aria as we scanned the aisle of La Push's very own crap-market.

"Nope. Do you?" she asked.

"No. I swear, if I have to drive all the way to Forks just to buy some damn tomatoes I'm going to-"

"Excuse me," a voice spoke up from behind us. "Do you need help finding anything?"

We turned around to see a teenage girl with an apron and a nametag.

"Actually," Aria spoke up. "We need some tomatoes."

"Oh, okay," she replied. "There are some in the back of the store, over there," she pointed.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"See?" Aria asked as we made our way to the back. "You're making a big deal out of nothing!"

As we approached the cart of tomatoes, I frowned.

"Oh, am I?" I asked, picking up a tomato.

"Ew, is that dirt or a wormhole?" Aria asked, poking it.

She jumped back as a little worm crawled out.

"IT'S A WORM!!" she screamed.

"Yeah, we're definitely going to have to drive all the way to Forks now," I complained as we walked past the refrigerated section.

"Or we could just buy a couple frozen pizzas so that nobody has to cook tonight," she suggested.

"Okay, but only because I'm feeling lazy."

We snatched a couple of pizzas and walked over to the checkout.

"Your total is $12. 79," the cashier replied as he finished scanning our items.

"Wait- can I go get something else real quick?" I asked.

"Go ahead."

I ran to the back of the store and bought a 12-pack of beer. This stuff could really come in handy sometimes.

I lifted it up onto the counter and the checkout guy scanned it.

"Can I see your I.D., please?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied, reaching down in my pocket for my wallet.

As he looked over my I.D., I saw his eyes widen.

"Embry Call?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Wow, dude. I haven't seen you in ages!" he exclaimed.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Embry, it's me, Brady," the cashier explained, reaching into his pocket to pull out his nametag. "See?"

"Brady?! Holy crap! I hardly even recognize you. You've grown up even more."

"Yeah," he chuckled. "What are you doing back here?"

"We just wanted to visit," I shrugged.

"We?" Brady asked. "Oh," he said as soon as he noticed Aria. "Hi, I'm Brady."

"I'm Aria."

"Aria?" he echoed, looking at her. "So you finally-"

I cut him off before he could say any more.

"You know what, we really need to get going. It was good seeing you again, though," I said as I grabbed the grocery bags and started walking towards the door.

"Wait!" Brady followed after me. "Hey- tomorrow, Sue Clearwater's cooking all this food for a party at her house. The whole pack is going to be there, and you should come, too."

"I don't know about that……" I replied..

"Why not? Everybody'll want to see you again. And Aria," he added at the end.

"We'll be there," Aria spoke up. "What time?"

"1 p.m. Do you remember where the Clearwater's place is?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, see you tomorrow, then," Brady waved.

"See you," Aria waved back.

"He's nice," she commented as we got back into the car.

"Yeah, Brady's a pretty cool kid."

"I think it'll be fun to see all your friends again, don't you?"

"Yeah," I mumbled unconvincingly.

So far, this visit to La Push wasn't turning out to be anything great.

But maybe tomorrow would be better.

At least I hoped so.

* * *

**A/N: Blah. I don't really like this chapter, but it had to be written, I guess. It's a filler mostly, but I had to get them back to La Push somehow. This one took me longer to write- about 3 hours........ but I did it during a lecture in class today so yeah....... I'm just THAT multi-taskible!!! Lol....... well, if anything, please REVIEW!! The good, the bad, and the ugly- I wanna hear it! Also, since school is back in session, updates will be less frequent. Just a heads up. Well, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Buenas noches, amigos!**


	10. Chapter 9: Slip Ups and Let Downs

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, blah blah blah. (Sorry, I don't have enought time to take a dig at Smeyer at the moment.)*****EPOV***

* * *

"Are they going to like me?" Aria looked over at me nervously as we drove to the Clearwaters'.

"Of course!" I reassured her. "Why wouldn't they?"

"I don't know………" she trailed off. "When's the last time you've seen all of them?"

"Seven years ago. So don't worry. I'm a little nervous, too."

I pulled up to a small white house. This place looked exactly like it did 7 years ago, no change.

Sweet, sweet memories.

I shut the car off and stepped out before going over to the other side and opening Aria's door.

I could already hear all the talking and laughing going on from inside, and the smell of Sue's cooking was making my mouth water.

"Let's go!" I put my arm around her waist and started walking quickly to the door.

"What's the rush?" Aria laughed.

"Have you _smelled_ the food cooking in there?!!"

"I thought you were nervous about coming," she said. "But apparently food makes it all better?"

"Food makes everything better."

"Okay…….. I'll keep that in mind."

I raised my fist up and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" I heard Sue yell from the inside.

I wasn't in the house for a second before Emily saw me and rushed over.

"Embry?!" she squealed, taking my face into both of her hands. "Look how much more grown up you are!"

"I'm pretty sure I looked 25 the last time you saw me, Em," I chuckled.

"Well," she smiled. "You're probably right. But wow- it's been so long! Brady told us that you were coming, but I guess we sort of expected you to- oh, nevermind. We've all just missed you so much."

"I've missed you all, too."

"Oh, this must be _her,_" Emily smiled, looking at Aria. "It's so nice to meet you, Aria. I'm Emily, if you didn't catch that already," she hugged her.

"Hi, Emily," Aria laughed. "It's nice to meet you."

"Well, let's go to the backyard. Everybody's waiting," Emily started walking, expecting us to follow.

We walked out onto the patio, and everyone was there- Jared and Kim, with Kim holding what I assumed was their baby, Sam, chasing three boys around the yard, Brady and Colin having a contest to see who could chug a Corona the fastest, Paul and Rachel sitting cuddled up on a porch swing, Seth with his arm around a blonde, laughing at something she had just said. Quil and Billy Black were grilling steaks, while Leah was betting with Jacob on how long it would take Quil to inevitably burn them all.

Suddenly, I felt like I didn't belong here. At all. Everyone was happy, together. People got married, started families, and moved on. But they all stayed in each other's lives. They still had that pack bond, and I couldn't say the same for me.

"Everyone," Emily clapped her hands together. "Look who's here!"

Seth's head snapped up. "Embry?"

"Yes, Seth, it's Embry. Does he really look that different to you?" Jake hit the back of his head.

"Ow," Seth pouted.

"Well," Jacob said, standing in front of me. "It's about time you came back here. Welcome back, buddy," he laughed, pulling me into a hug.

Instantly, all of my doubts about this whole thing vanished. I was still the same Embry, the pack was still the same pack, and things were going to be good.

"You," Paul snarled, walking over towards me.

"Paul," Rachel said in a low voice, one hand on Paul's chest, trying to keep him calm.

So Paul was still temperamental.

Yep, definitely the same pack.

"You leave us, ignore us, then come back and expect us to greet you with fucking open arms?!" he shouted, body shaking. "Well that's a bunch of bullshit!"

"Paul, I-"

"Embry, don't," Sam said, stepping between us. "Paul, leave _now._ We don't need you phasing right here and messing everything up."

"Why should I have to leave when-"

"_Go."_

That was an alpha command.

Paul turned around and sprinted into the woods.

So, apparently, if he was still phasing, then so were the other guys. And that meant that there were still vampires around……..

A slight breeze blew, and I could smell them. The smell was coming from…….. Jacob? Looking over at him, I saw that his arm was around a young woman, and then I remembered.

Nessie must have grown up.

Well, by the looks of it, Nessie _did_ grow up. A lot, actually.

And then I thought about _my_ imprint.

Aria looked up at me.

"What the hell was that about?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," I replied before sitting down at a table.

"He looked like he wanted to kill you," she whispered nervously.

I laughed.

"He can try."

* * *

***APOV***

I glanced over at Embry, feeling giddy when I saw him laughing and joking with his old friends.

For some reason, when he was happy, so was I. And it made me so happy to see him like this, to see him really enjoying himself.

Even him and that Paul guy were getting along. It was like that confrontation three hours ago never even happened.

"So, Aria," a woman who introduced herself to me as Kim spoke. "When are you and Embry getting married?"

All of the wives and girlfriends were sitting by the fire pit while the guys were goofing off in the yard.

"Yeah!" a smile lit up across Emily's face. "When, when, when?!!"

"Uh," I began, looking at each of their faces.

This was going to be so awkward.

"Embry and I aren't getting married."

A frown spread across Emily's forehead.

"But, your ring-"

"Embry and I are just friends," I reassured her. "I'm actually getting married here about 6 months from now."

"Oh," she looked down. "But you know how he feels about you right?"

If Embry hadn't seen or talked to these people in 7 years, then how did she know about how he felt about me?

"Yeah, but he knows that we have boundaries," I explained.

"Typical," Seth's older sister, Leah shook her head. "Reason number 26375324 why imprinting sucks."

"What?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"What's imprinting?" I asked again.

"You don't know what imprinting is?" Leah asked me slowly, looking frantically at Emily.

"Never heard of it."

"Shit," I heard her mutter under her breath. "Well, uh, nevermind, then."

"Well, it's great that you're getting married here," Rachel spoke up, trying to change the subject. "You're from here, right?"

"Born and raised," I grinned proudly.

"What's your last name again? Ambler?" Leah asked.

I nodded. I felt like I was playing a game of 20 questions.

"Oh, yeah- your mom was my 2nd grade teacher!" her face lit up. "She was my favorite."

"Awww, that's sweet," I replied. "She stopped teaching after she had my littlest sister, though."

"Siblings ruin everything," she shook her head, looking over at Seth.

"I have to agree with you on that one," I chuckled.

We all stopped talking and looked up as Sam walked over, carrying a crying little boy.

"Emily," he said with concern. "Luke fell and hit his head."

"Oh no! What's wrong, baby?" she asked lovingly as she took the little boy out of Sam's arms.

"My head hurts," he sobbed, burying his neck in his mother's shoulder.

"Okay, we'll go inside. I'll make it better," she kissed his cheek.

"I'll help you," I offered, getting up to go inside.

"Thanks, Aria," she smiled. "You know, Embry's really lucky to have found a girl like you. To be friends with, I mean," she added quickly at the end.

I looked down, blushing.

"Uh, thanks."

"Where did you hit you head?" she asked slowly as she sat her son on the kitchen counter.

"Here," he pointed.

"Yep, I see a little scrape," she inspected it. "Looks like you'll be wearing your Power Rangers band aids for the next couple of days."

"Yesss!" he pumped his fist into the air.

She laughed.

"Boys, boys, boys………"

As I leaned against the side of the counter, my mind started to think about the 'what ifs' again.

What if Embry and I got married? Would we live here in La Push? Would we have a little boy? Would he carry him inside when we got hurt? Would he look like me, or Embry? Would we…….

Ugh. I needed to stop doing that kind of stuff.

What was the point in thinking and planning for things that were never going to happen anyway?

"Aria," Embry said, stepping inside the kitchen. "You ready to leave?"

"If you are," I replied.

He nodded.

"I'll be back here tomorrow anyway."

"Okay, well, it was really nice to meet you , Emily," I waved. "Hope you feel better soon, Luke."

"You two are always welcome at me and Sam's house, you know. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, anytime," she said as she hugged Embry.

"Oh, we'll definitely be over soon," he replied. "Seven years without your cooking is seven years too long………"

"Oh, stop it," she giggled. "Bye, Aria. It was nice to meet you, too," she hugged me. "Take care of Embry," she whispered. "Guys like him are hard to come by."

* * *

"I like your friends," I commented as we pulled onto the road.

"I know," Embry replied. "And they liked you too, just like I said they would."

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you?" he teased.

"I don't know; would you?" I asked, more serious this time.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked, looking over at me.

"Nothing," I muttered, deciding to avoid the subject.

"No, tell me."

"Embry, nevermind. Just drive, okay?"

"No. I wanna know," he insisted, pulling the car over on the side of the road.

I started at him in disbelief.

"You're crazy."

"According to you, I'm also a liar. Care to explain?"

I looked out the side of the window and into the dark forest, then back onto the road.

Out of nowhere, a dark black wolf darted in front of our car.

"Did you see that?" I yelled.

"What? What did you see?" he asked worriedly.

"A huge black wolf!"

"A wolf?"

"Yeah. But they don't come around here too often……."

"You never know. Now come on, just tell me why I'm a liar," he whined.

"Well, I don't know if you're a _liar_, necessarily. I think that you've just kept some things from me."

His eyes widened.

"Things like what?"

"Phasing? Imprinting? Does any of this ring a bell to you?" I asked.

He looked away from me.

"No."

"Yeah, right," I snorted.

"I'm not lying to you."

"Oh, really? Then what would you call it?"

"I'm protecting you."

"I don't need to be protected."

"Yes, you do."

"What do I need to be protected from, then?"

He didn't answer.

"See, Embry?" I threw my hands up in the air. "This is exactly what I'm talking about."

After 5 minutes, he eventually spoke.

"Alright," he sighed. "I…….. I can explain."

I sat there, looking up at him expectantly.

"But not here; not on the side of the road in some crap car."

"Stop making excuses," I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I'm not. Let me take you someplace else."

"What difference does it make where we are when you explain all of this to me?"

"Trust me, Aria," he put both hands on the wheel and pulled out onto the road again. "You're going to want to brace yourself for this."

* * *

***EPOV***

I knew it.

I knew that I shouldn't have taken Aria to meet the pack. I thought that it would be a risk, but no- I didn't listen to myself. I took her anyway. And now look what was happening.

She had heard some things, and now she was looking for the answers. It was kind of hard to stop her now. Lying wouldn't even cover it up anymore.

I gripped the steering wheel tightly, my knuckles turning white. I didn't know what I was going to tell her, or even how I was going to tell her.

I never planned on having to, really. And now that I did, it was probably going to totally fuck things up.

Well, it was going to fuck up the things that weren't _already_ fucked up, at least.

"Are you okay?" Aria asked, looking over at me. "You seem really tense."

"I'm fine," I replied with clenched teeth.

So believable.

I decided to bring her to the beach. I think I remember Paul telling all of us on patrol one time that he broke the news to Rachel out here.

"We're here," I said as I parked and got out of the car.

I started walking quickly to the shore, Aria following behind me.

"Embry?" she stopped. "This is silly. Just tell me already."

I plopped down in the sand and let the waves crash into my feet, not caring if my clothes or shoes got wet.

That was the least of my worries.

"Have a seat," I said, patting the ground next to me.

"Okay, I'm sitting."

"I can see that," I laughed sarcastically.

"You are so-"

"I used to be a shapeshifter," I blurted out.

"_What?" _

"I know it's hard to believe, but-"

"No, no, no," she stopped me. "Back up. What's a shapeshifter?"

"You've never heard of shapeshifters? You've never heard the old legends?"

She shook her head.

"Well," I sighed. "Let me enlighten you."

So we sat there, side by side, as I poured out the truth. Not once did she laugh, or interrupt me, or call me crazy. She just _listened._

"And Aria," I concluded. "I imprinted on you, at graduation seven years ago."

She looked straight ahead, not meeting my gaze.

"Say something."

Eventually, she turned to face me, tears in her eyes.

"I can't believe it," she whispered.

"What?"

"I can't believe that you're lying to me."

"WHAT?!" I stood up, feeling anger surge through my veins.

"Making up stories like these, and making your friends go along with them, just to try and force me to be with you is really low, Embry, and so……… _unlike you_," she frowned, shaking her head.

"So unlike me?!?! Really, Aria? You think I'm making all this up?"

She nodded.

"Wow. Well guess what? You wanted to know the truth, so I told you the truth, and turns out that you don't like it. What a surprise."

I could feel my body shaking, just a teeny bit, and I knew that I had to stop myself.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she crossed her arms.

"It means that you don't know what you want!"

"You've told me so many stories that I don't know what to believe anymore," she pouted.

"Aria," I said, looking into her eyes. "I swear that I'm telling the truth this time."

"I don't know…….." she trailed off. "I just don't believe you. I'm sorry."

"Maybe you'd believe me more if I had a big fat credit card instead of my fucked up DNA," I spat.

"Shooting off the gold-digger jokes, huh? I guess Alisa's finally getting to you……." she turned around and started walking away. "You're so low."

"Aria! Don't walk away!" I yelled after her.

"Watch me."

"I'm sorry," I ran up to her, grabbing her hand, pleading with her. "I'm just frustrated. Aria," I said, on the verge of crying. "You have to believe me this time; you just have to."

"Let me go," she replied, trying to walk away.

I held her back.

"Embry!" she turned around, and I saw a tear slide down her cheek. "_Let me go!"_

"How are you going to get home, then?"

"I'll walk."

"But that's dangerous at night."

"I think it'll be safer than staying here with you," she abruptly pulled her hand out of mine.

That was it; that was all it took to drive me over the edge.

In the chaos of my anger, frustration, and sadness, I felt my body starting to take over, just like old times.

"Aria," I said in a low voice. "Get in the car now."

"But-"

"_Now."_

Something in my tone made her listen to me. She ran into the passenger seat of the car as soon as I could feel my last shred of humanity disappear.

Suddenly, things got blurry, I felt like I was on fire, and I landed to the ground with a thud, my paws digging into the sand.

Paws.

_Paws._

I freaking had paws.

My head started spinning as I could hear the voices of my brothers.

I panicked, not knowing how to handle everything that was happening; I couldn't remember what I did the first time I phased back when I was 16.

Instead, I turned and ran.

I ran as fast as I could, as hard as I could.

Anything I could do to keep from thinking…….. that was all I was focused on.

* * *

**A/N: Uhhhhh, this chapter was written in 50 minutes- a new record! Hopefully you all like it......... Remember: Updates are fewer now, so please don't get mad if I don't update for two weeks or so. I'm sorry, but college isn't as stress-free as everyone makes it out to be. Well, thanks for reading! Don't forget to review, please!!! **


	11. Chapter 10: Going Back on Words

**Disclaimer: Twilight= Smeyer's. This fanfic= Mine/a little bit of Dazzled4Life's. So yeah.**

**This chapter is also dedicated to my awesome friend Maddie! She helped get this chapter done, because I got stuck......**

**Oh, and this chapter has a frequent change of whose POV it is, so pay attention and hopefully you won't get confused!**

***EPOV***

The next morning, I was finally able to get enough control of myself to unphase.

Cutting through the woods into my yard, I grabbed a towel off the clothes line and swiftly made my way up the front door step, taking notice of my car from last night parked in the driveway.

I wondered how it got there.

It was like déjà vu from 7 years ago. Getting home early in the morning, having to desperately find clothes, sneaking back into the house before my mom could catch me…….

"Embry?" I heard my mom force out timidly as I quietly shut the door behind me.

"Oh, hey, Mom," I said nonchalantly.

"Thank goodness you're alright," she breathed a sigh of relief, coming over to embrace me in a tight hug.

"Uh…… yeah. Wait, why wouldn't I be alright?"

"I'm not sure," she shook her head.

Now I was confused.

"Okay, well, I'm just gonna get back to bed," I replied, walking towards my bedroom door.

When I opened the door and looked inside, to my surprise, I saw Aria sprawled out on my bed. She was wearing one of my old oversized t-shirts that went to her knees and her black hair was spread out across the pillow. Although the blinds were closed, there were small rays of light coming in from the rising sun, slightly illuminating her face.

She looked absolutely beautiful.

But what was she doing here?

Not wanting to wake her up, I quickly grabbed a pair of shorts out of my suitcase and made my way back out into the kitchen.

"Why's Aria here?" I asked, sitting down at the table.

"Well," my mom sighed as she ran her hand through her hair. "She came here around 11:30 last night, frantically crying. She kept saying that something happened to you, but she refused to tell me _what._ And then she insisted that she would stay here until you got back, to make sure that you were okay. You never came, so I ended up just letting her sleep in your bed. She got tired, waiting for you."

"Oh," I muttered, not knowing whether to feel happy that Aria actually still cared about me after last night's events, or to feel bad for making her so upset.

The room was silent as I poured myself a bowl of cereal and sat back down.

After I took a couple of bites, my mom turned to me, a look of worry on her face.

"Embry," her eyes teared up. "Please don't tell me this is starting again."

I swallowed my cereal and replied, "What's starting again?"

"Don't you remember? The whole 'sneaking out and acting secretive' thing? Please don't put me through this again. And more importantly, don't start putting _her_ through this."

"Mom," I said, a slight edge in my voice. "You're overreacting. Everything is fine."

"Then what happened last night, Embry? Why wouldn't Aria tell me?" my mom insisted. "I'm so tired of never knowing what's going on with you!"

"Everything is fine, I promise. That's all you really need to know," I replied.

"Oh no," she said, suddenly realizing something. "You're not going through the whole 'werewolf' thing again, are you? I swear Embry, if you're going to pull that one on me again, then I'm definitely going to have to take you to a psychiatrist or something-"

"Mom!" I slammed my fist down on the table, which turned out to be louder than I had originally thought, startling her. "Just drop it, okay?"

I yawned, and realized that I really needed to get some rest. Getting up from the table, I put my bowl and spoon into the sink and sauntered back to my room.

I got a pillow and a blanket out of the hall closet and threw them on the floor. Just as soon as I was all settled in and about ready to fall asleep, Aria woke up.

She turned over to face me, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh my God," she said as soon as she saw me.

"Hey," I chuckled.

"Are…… are you okay?" she asked with concern as she sat up and scooted over to make room for me on the bed.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. See?" I waved my arms and legs around as I sat down next to her.

"So last night really happened?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"But you're not hurt."

"Right."

"Oh, Embry," she hugged me tightly, resting her head against my shoulder. "Embry, Embry, Embry. I didn't know what to do! I was so worried about you," she looked up at me.

"You don't need to worry about me," I replied, smiling a little bit to make her feel better.

"You were really telling me the truth," she looked at me, eyes wide.

"Do you honestly think I made all of that shit up?"

She laughed,

"I wish it was made up," I hung my head down.

"But back in New York, you never-"

"I know. I stopped phasing. But now, thanks to me not being able to control myself and letting my emotions get the best of me, I started up again. Seven years' worth of hard work and self-control just thrown away in the blink of an eye," I shook my head.

"And it's all my fault," she blinked, on the verge of crying. "If I would have just believed you, then you wouldn't have gotten mad and-"

"Hey, stop that," I squeezed her shoulder. "That's not true. I probably would have snapped again eventually."

"There's one thing I don't understand, though. What's so horrible about phasing?" she asked. "Why is it such a big deal? Why is it so dangerous?"

"I just……… I just hate feeling like I'm out of control. I hate having to make my mom think that I'm insane, or that I'm keeping secrets from her. I hate having to constantly worry about accidentally phasing in public or having to worry about accidentally hurting someone," I looked over at her. "I hate feeling like…….. _like an animal_."

"So you're stuck with being a wolf for life then?"

"Pretty much. Even if I stop phasing again, there's always going to be that possibility that I'll start back up," I replied.

"But there's gotta be_ some_ perks to being a wolf, right?"

"I guess so. I mean, I really can't complain about what it's done to my body," I flexed my arm, making her smile a little bit. "And I never really get cold in the winter, so that's always a plus."

"You're like a personal space heater," she giggled.

"Heard that one already," I rolled my eyes.

"Give me some time to think of a new one," she playfully slapped me on the arm.

"There's one more thing I want to clarify."

"What?" she asked, turning more serious.

"You know how I explained the whole imprinting thing to you?"

She nodded.

"And how I said that you were my imprint?"

She nodded again.

"Well, even though the idea is to pass on the wolf genes together, don't feel obligated to think of me like that," I said, going against what I really wanted to say. "I can be anything you want me to be, even if that's just a friend."

"Thanks," she smiled. "So we're really _that_ compatible, huh?"

"Apparently."

"Interesting," she tapped her chin.

"But, of course, the wolf genes explanation is just really a guess. None of us in the pack know for sure……." I trailed off.

"Well, I need to get going," Aria hopped off the bed. "My family's probably wondering where I went. I didn't even call them last night to tell them I was staying here."

"What's with you and not calling people?" I chuckled.

"I dunno," she shrugged. "I'm just scatter-brained, I guess. Turn around, will ya?"

"Why? Oh," I said as she started to lift the oversize shirt over her head.

"Yeah," she laughed. "That's why."

I looked back out of the corner of my eye.

"Embry! Stop peeking! God!"

"Sorry," I smiled sheepishly.

I just couldn't help myself.

* * *

***APOV***

"Thank God you're here," I breathed as I climbed into a car.

"What's wrong? It looks like you've had a pretty good night," my younger sister, Audrey, laughed as I buckled my seatbelt.

I rolled my eyes as I smoothed out my messy hair.

"It's called bed head, you pervert."

"Sure it is," she smirked. "Mom's gonna lecture you when you get home."

"Great."

"This reminds me of when you used to sneak out of the house at night back when you were 16!" she laughed.

"Except that I'm a grown woman now," I added, annoyed that my mom _still_ felt the need to treat me like I was a teenager.

"Come on, Ar," Audrey replied, turning to look at me. "You know that this is how Mom's been ever since Dad died. She gets worried and paranoid so much only because she's terrified that she might lose us, too."

"I know," I waved her off, turning to look out the window.

As we passed the Clearwaters' house, I could have sworn that I saw a reddish-brown wolf dart into the woods.

I wondered which one of Embry's friends that would be…….

Suddenly, I started cracking up. Not because it was funny, not because I was happy, but because of how _strange_ this whole thing was. I actually sort of believed that I was dreaming all this up, but then I was punched in the arm and realized that this was all just my fucked up reality.

"Ouch," I whined, rubbing my arm. "What was that for?"

"You were ignoring me!"

"Oh."

"Yeah. So as I was saying, who was that guy that hugged you goodbye back there?"

"That was my friend, Embry," I replied.

"Friend, or friend with benefits?" she raised her eyebrows suggestively.

I rolled my eyes and tried to tune her voice out of my head.

As soon as Audrey pulled the car into Mom's driveway, I ran out the car and up to the front door, desperate to get away from her annoying self.

I needed to get up to my old room quick, before my mom could see me.

I was made it through the kitchen with ease and was just about to run up the stairs when I heard her say my name, stopping me in my tracks.

"Aria Noelle Amber."

I took a deep breath, trying my hardest to not explode at her. Being treated like a 12 year-old was one of my biggest pet peeves.

"Oh, hi, Mom," I laughed nervously as I slowly walked over to her. "Nice day we're having, hmm?"

"Not really, because I barely got two hours of sleep last night due to worrying about my daughter that never came home," she narrowed her eyes at me.

"I can explain."

"You better start."

"Well, by the time the party I went to was over, it was getting late," I lied. "So I went to a friend's house and just spent the night-"

"Without calling me?"

"I forgot."

"And whose house did you stay at?"

"Um, my friend named-" I bit down on my lip.

"Embry," Audrey interrupted as she walked past us. "Or should I say 'friend with benefits?'"

I clenched my fist and turned towards her.

"No."

"Aria," my mom looked at me in disbelief. "You stayed with another man last night?"

"He wasn't even there for most of the night!" I defended myself, soon realizing that that didn't help my case.

"What is that supposed to mean?" my mom asked.

"Look, Mom," I replied. "I'm a 25 year old woman. I can make my own choices and mistakes. I'm responsible for myself."

"Well, I can tell you right now that this is not how your father and I raised you, Aria. You know better than to cheat on-"

"I did not cheat on Logan!" I stamped my foot. "Why does everybody assume that? Do I _look_ like a whore?"

I turned around and ran up the stairs and into my room, slamming the door behind me.

I jumped onto my bed and lie there on my back, just staring up at my ceiling. The glow-in-the-dark stars Alisa and I put up back when I was 12 were still on the ceiling. Suddenly, I felt an extreme sense of gratitude and comfort for being home, even though my family drove me nuts.

This place was just so different than anywhere else I've ever lived, especially New York. This place had memories. It had meaning. It had that feeling of just being home.

And every time I came back to this place, it seemed like I always found the real Aria again, like every time I left, part of me stayed in La Push, just waiting for me to come back again.

I heard the door open, but I didn't even bothering looking at them.

"Sorry for jumping to conclusions," my mother said softly, sitting down next to me on my bed. "I just get so carried away sometimes."

This was so like Mom. Anytime we ever had a fight, she would get explosive, but after it was all said and done, she would come back to me and apologize, trying to compromise.

"I know, Mom. Trust me, _I know_."

She laughed.

"So what did you say your friend's name was again? Embry, was it?"

There was the compromise part.

"Yup," I nodded.

"How come you haven't introduced us to him?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I didn't want you jumping to conclusions, I guess. But seeing as how we've already gotten past that-"

"Invite him here for dinner tonight," she interrupted me.

"What?" I asked, surprised at how bipolar she could be sometimes.

"I'm cooking dinner tonight- invite him over. I want to meet him."

I cringed. I remembered what it was like, back in high school when my parents wanted to meet the guys I was dating. It was like a criminal interrogation.

But Embry wasn't dating me, right? So I had no reason to be nervous……..

"Okay, I'll call him later," I replied.

But why was I?

* * *

***EPOV***

I walked up to the front door of Aria's house, lightly knocking on the door.

I looked around nervously. Sure, I was perfectly comfortable around Aria, but from what she told me about her mother, things were going to be a little difficult.

"Hey," Aria opened up the door, smiling when she was that it was me. "Come on in."

"Mmm, it smells good in here," I commented. "What's cooking?"

"Spaghetti. Grandma's recipe," she laughed.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" a girl who looked no older than 20 ran up to me.

"Audrey, come on, we talked about this," Aria warned her.

"I know, I know," she waved Aria off. "Hi, I'm Audrey," she held out her hand. "Also known as Aria's little sister."

"Oh, uh, hi," I shook her hand. "I'm Embry, Aria's….. friend."

"Don't you mean friend with benefits?" she smirked.

"What?"

"Okay, you can leave now!" Aria pushed her away and she ran up the stairs.

"Sorry about that," Aria sighed, shaking her head. "I swear, she's one of the most annoying people I know."

"What was she talking about?"

"You don't even want to know."

"Alright then."

She led me into the kitchen, where a woman was stirring a pot on the stove.

"You must be Embry!" the woman walked over to me. "I'm Aria's mother, Julie."

"It's nice to meet you," I said as she hugged me.

"Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes. Oh, and Aria- Adam is coming tonight, so when you set the table, put 5 plates down, please."

"Okay," Aria replied. "You can go in the living room if you want," she said to me. "I'll be done in a second."

"Okay."

I went back out into the living room and sat down on the couch, looking at all of the pictures and frames scattered throughout the room.

There were pictures of weddings, births, graduations. I kept seeing pictures of four little dark-haired kids as they grew up, trying to identify which one was Aria.

"That's me," Aria said out of nowhere, pointing to a picture of a little girl holding a puppy. "Back for my fifth birthday, my dad went out and got me a dog named Buddy."

"What's this one?" I asked, looking at a picture of Aria holding a little baby.

"Oh," she smiled. "That's me holding Audrey back when she was first born. I was six in the picture. God, I really miss the times from before she could talk……. See this one?" she pointed to a picture of her dancing with a guy at a wedding.

"Yeah."

"That's me dancing with my little brother, Adam, back at my parents' 25th wedding anniversary party. Even when he was 14, he could still outgrow me."

"Well, you are short," I chuckled.

"I know. My dad used to call me Munchkin," she smiled.

"Is this him?" I knelt down by a picture of a couple by a house.

Aria knelt down next to me, her face inches from mine.

"Yep," she said slowly. "That's him. He looks so young in this picture!"

"Honey, dinner is ready," Aria's mom walked over to us.

"Oh, okay. Should I go get Audrey?"

"Please do."

"AUDREY!" Aria stood at the bottom of the stairs, yelling at the top of her lungs.

"I could have done that!" Aria's mom complained.

"Then what are you asking me for?"

* * *

"You know Sam Uley?" Adam asked me as he took another bite of spaghetti.

"Yeah," I replied. "He's one of my good friends."

"Wait, you were in his gang, weren't you? Man, I remember, back in high school, when you guys were a big thing out here on the rez. What was the deal with that, anyway? Weren't you guys into drugs or something, or was that just a rumor?"

"Adam!" Aria's mother put her fork down.

"What?" he asked, mouth full of garlic bread.

Aria looked over at me and mouthed 'sorry.'

"So, Embry, how did you and Aria meet? I don't remember her ever knowing you back when she lived here," he mother asked, trying to change the subject.

_I imprinted on her during our high school graduation._

"Back in New York, I own a restaurant. One day, we were looking for job offers, and she just happened to apply," I looked over at Aria.

"And then we found out that we were both from La Push and instantly became friends," Aria finished.

_Sure, that's exactly what happened._

"What are the chances of finding someone from here out in a big place like that?" her mother chuckled. "It must have been fate."

"I guess so."

"But, you two both should know, that your friendship doesn't exactly look the best to people who don't know any better," she explained.

Aria looked over at her, confused.

"Huh?"

"Well, if I didn't know any better, then I would assume that you two were dating. From the way you look at each other, to the way you act around each other. But now I know that it's just because of your close friendship."

Rolling her eyes, Aria replied, "Honestly, it's really none of other people's business about what our relationship is. As long as _we_ know what it is, anyway."

"And what is it exactly?"

"Just a friendship," she replied.

But judging by the reaction of everyone at the table, she wasn't so convinving.

* * *

"How did you get here?" Aria asked as I was about ready to leave.

"I phased and ran over here."

"But how did you get clothes?"

"Recognize this shirt? It was hanging on the clothesline in your backyard," I grinned.

Her eyes widened.

"Embry! I can't believe you!"

"Relax, I'll wash it and give it back to you."

"You better."

"Well, thanks for the interesting dinner," I smiled as I headed out the door.

"Wait!" she grabbed my arm. "I'm sorry the dinner sucked. I told you that my mom doesn't always think before she opens her mouth, and then my brother talking about the pack like that was just awful. And then to top it off with all of Audrey's stupid sex jokes-"

"It didn't suck."

"Yeah, it did."

"Aria, it wasn't that bad."

"You're right, it was only mostly bad."

I laughed when she started poutng.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked.

"Why are you pouting?"

"Look," she said, changing the subject. "Can I at least drive you home?"

"What?"

"Look outside. It's about to rain. Why would you want to run home in the pouring rain?"

"I'm used to it. It's not that bad, really."

"Just let me drive you home."

"Fine," I sighed.

* * *

***APOV***

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, right? What time are we meeting here to go to the airport again?" I asked Embry as I dropped him off.

"We should probably meet around 11 in the morning," he replied, getting out of the car. "Oh, I just remembered. You left your sweater here this morning. I'll go get it real quick."

"Wait, I'll come with you," I replied, getting out of the car and walking after him.

A couple of minutes later, he came back with a black sweater.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

He leaned against the front door frame as I stood on the porch. We could hear the raining drizzling down, but we were under the roof, staying nice and dry.

"Do you remember what I told you this morning, about imprinting?" Embry asked.

"Yeah."

I looked back at him sideways, half of me silently begging him to end the conversation right there, half of me hoping that he would go on.

"Well, I can't lie to you any longer," Embry said slowly, looking down at his feet. "I can't keep acting like I don't feel the way I do."

I looked down at my feet, trying to prepare myself for what was going to come next. Why did I even offer to take him home anyway? I knew that this was going to happen.

"Aria," he took a deep breath, moving his eyes up from the floor to stare directly at my face. "I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you for the past 7 years. No matter what I do, or how hard I try, I can't stop. It's just….. it's not possible."

"You don't deserve someone like me," I swallowed hard. "You deserve someone _better_ than me, Embry."

And it was true. I was in a relationship. I had to fulfill what I promised, and I was constantly changing my mind and how I felt. He deserved a girl who was constant- who he could always lean on; a girl who wasn't as emotionally draining as I was.

"What are you talking about?! Aria," he said, taking a step closer to me, his expression softening. "I'm meant to be with you, and you're meant to be with me. We're made for each other."

"You know we can't be together, so why are you being so stubborn?" I looked away, knowing that if he saw my eyes, he would see what I was really feeling.

"Really? Is that really the case? Why can't you be with me? Does your guy have a gag order on you or something?"

"No," I narrowed my eyes. "I don't have to explain myself to you, alright?"

"Ooh, I'm thinking maybe it's for his money."

"No," I gritted my teeth together. "I made a promise to him. And, unlike you, I don't go back on my word."

"Oh, so now you feel like you're forced to be with him?" he mused, knowing exactly what he was doing. "I can tell by the way you look when you talk about him, and you know what? That's a pretty bullshit reason to stay with someone."

"Why are you taking back everything you said to me this morning?!"

"Because I know that you're denying your feelings! Just come out and tell me the truth! You don't have to lie to me anymore, Aria. Don't act like you don't want the same thing I do!"

"Look, I'm going to be with Logan. End of story," I replied.

"You really need to work on your acting."

"Embry, shut up!" I raised my voice, turning around to walk away from him.

What was the point in staying here, arguing over this?

"Wait!" he grabbed my arm, stopping me in place. "I just want you to tell me one thing."

I glared at him. _"What?"_

"If you really don't have any feelings for me, then I want you to stare into my eyes and tell me that you don't want to be with me," he replied.

"Why would I do that? That's stupid."

"Just do it for me. I just need some closure, I guess. Then that'll be the end of all this."

"Ugh, this is so stupid," I sighed. "Embry," I said, looking up into his dark brown eyes. "I- I don't want to be with you. There, happy now?"

"I don't believe you."

"Well you're just going to have to," I said, turning around and walking away from him again, only this time, he didn't stop me.

I didn't dare look back; I knew what I would do the second I saw that look on his face.

I walked towards the car, not caring that I was getting drenched by the rain. I kept thinking about what Embry just said to me.

"_I was made for you, and you were made for me. We're meant for each other."_

Me and Embry.

Embry and I.

No, that was just not going to happen.

All that imprinting stuff was complete bullshit. Just because Embry was in love with me didn't mean that I had to be in love with him. Sometimes fate screwed up, right? Of course it did.

I wasn't going to let some stupid law of nature force me to be with someone. I could be with whoever I wanted to be. There's no way that all imprints and imprinters are _real_ soulmates. People have choices; things work out in the end.

But didn't I really want to be with Embry? Yeah, but I would get over him. I really would. Eventually, somehow, I would realize that Logan was the one for me, just like how things were before I ever met Embry. And I couldn't be with Embry- that would just be taking back everything that Logan's ever done for me and my family.

Maybe Embry was right- maybe I did feel obligated to be with Logan. But I did love Logan, too. Life wasn't always fair, but I knew that sometimes I had to put myself and my feelings last.

I climbed into the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition. The car roared to life, and before I knew it, I was half a mile down the road, rain pattering on my windshield, the radio off.

Yet somehow, all I could focus on was what just happened between Embry and I.

"_Tell me that you don't want to be with me. I just need some closure, I guess. And then that'll be the end of this."_

"_That's stupid."_

"_Just do it for me."_

"_Embry, I-I don't want to be with you anymore."_

"_I don't believe you."_

Blinding headlights shone in my eyes, forcing me to put my attention back on the road. I guess I wandered off into the left lane a little bit while I was thinking. Swerving to my right to avoid the collision, I ended up in a small ditch.

"Fuck!" I yelled, hitting the steering wheel in anger.

Trying to pull out of the mud, I pressed on the gas as hard as I could.

_Well, that did absolutely nothing._

After 10 more minutes of trying to break free, I came up with two options:

Call someone to come get me.

Walk to the nearest house.

Going for the first option, I reached into my pocket for my phone. I felt around for it, but nothing turned up. Next, I searched through the cup holders, glove box, and looked all around the car. Still nothing.

_This is just fucking great._

That left me with option 2: get out and walk to the nearest house. I remembered this road; I knew where all of the houses were along it. And I was pretty sure that the closest house was-

_Shit._

Who was I kidding? The closest house was down a small dirt road way back in the woods. There was no way in hell that I was going to walk all the way back there by myself, especially at this time of night in a storm!

I would just have to wait in my car until the storm passed.

I turned the dial on the radio just in time to catch the weather report.

"There is a severe thunderstorm warning until 3:00 a.m.," the announcer said.

3 a.m……. that was only 5 hours away, right? I could make it in here that long, for sure.

But my gas gauge told me otherwise.

I was almost on empty.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!!!!" I yelled again, banging on the dashboard.

As I went to sit back in my seat, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This wasn't exactly the best day of my life by any means. I was so frustrated that I was about to burst into tears, so I tried to remember times that made me happy, to calm myself down.

I thought about the fishing trips my dad used to take me on when I was 12, and the family vacation we took to Disney World back in the 11th grade. I thought back to my sister's wedding, and the first day I stepped onto a college campus.

Then I thought about that day when Embry showed me around New York City.

And that one morning when I woke up right next to him.

And when we danced at Kevin and Tracy's wedding.

Great, there I was, thinking about him. Again.

"_Stop denying your feelings! Just come out and tell me the truth! You don't have to lie to me anymore, Aria. Don't act like you don't want the same thing I do. Please."_

Those words played over and over in my mind like a broken record.

And you know what? I actually realized something.

He was right.

Reaching over to the door handle, I pressed down and pushed the door wide open. It was now pouring buckets, but I could care less if I got wet or not.

No amount of rain could stop me from doing what I was about to do.

* * *

***EPOV***

I flopped down on the couch and pressed the 'power' button on the remote, wincing as a Richard Simmons workout DVD commercial came on the screen.

I think my mom actually had a couple of those lying around here somewhere……..

I tried to shake that disturbing thought from my mind.

Thunder sounded from up above, and I started worrying about Aria driving home all alone.

_No, wait. Screw her. She can drive off the side of the road for all I care._

I was so done with her. Girls like her were just hopeless and a complete waste of time. Fucking with your heart , not being able to make up their minds; no- Aria was right- I _did_ deserve someone better than her.

Except there was one small problem- I would never, ever be able to find someone better than her, and deep down, I didn't even want to.

And that was because, despite everything that she put me through, every part of my being still longed for her.

So I guess you could say that I was screwed in the sick, most twisted way possible.

_BAM BAM BAM!_

My head snapped up to the direction of the noise- my front door.

What the hell?

I ignored it and just went back to watching TV.

_BAM BAM BAM!_

Someone was knocking on my front door.

"Embry, let me in!" I heard a voice call out from the other side.

I raced to the door and yanked it open.

There, standing soaking wet and shivering, was Aria Ambler.

"What do you want?" I snapped as I crossed my arms and tried to make her feel guilty for being so bitchy earlier.

"This," she said quickly, pulling me down, colliding her lips with mine.

I broke away. "W-What?" I stuttered, shocked by what had just happened.

"I want this," she kissed me again. "Embry, I want you."

* * *

The bright light of the sun woke me slowly from my deep sleep.

I took a deep breath, smiling to myself as Aria's head, which was resting on my chest, moved up and down with each breath I took.

I leaned down to kiss her on the top of her head, causing her to stir in her sleep.

She lifted her head to look at me.

"Good morning," she scooted up to gently plant a kiss on my lips.

"Last night was the best night of my life," I said, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Me, too," she giggled as she rolled over onto her side.

She started tracing circles on my stomach, resting her head against my shoulder.

"I don't think I ever want to leave here," she looked up at me.

"Neither do I. Do we really have to go back to New York?"

Suddenly, she shot up in bed, her black hair cascading down her bare shoulders.

"What's wrong?" I sat up.

"What time were we supposed to leave for the airport?" she panicked.

"11 a.m. Why?"

"It's noon."

"Shit!"

"I have an idea."

"What?"

"Let's just stay here for a little while," she smirked. "Who wants to go back to New York now, anyway?"

I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her closer to me.

I sure didn't.

* * *

**A/N: Did the last part shock you? Hopefully it did! I wasn't sure if Aria's drabble at the end about being with Embry vs. Logan made sense or not, but it made sense to me when I was writing it. Well, actually, I think we all can agree that Aria is one biznatch who really changes her mind/doesn't make sense alot, but hey- I made her, so we really can't blame her. (Oh, God- am I seriously talking about my characters as if they're REAL people?? Surprisingly enough, people, I DO have a social life.......) Anyway, to wrap things up: Please comment! That includes you, alerters and favoriters who never tell me what you think! Reviews are love, faves are love, alerts are love, and readers are love. (Is the word 'love' starting to sound weird to you?) So to everyone who read this chapter: *HUGS* and hope you liked it!**

* * *


	12. Chapter 11: Coming Clean

**Disclaimer: Blabbity blah blah blah......... Twilight and all of it's characters/ideas/so on are owned by Stephanie Meyer. (Do I have to put these things in every chapter?) ALSO: Check out this picture of Emily's scar! It's awesome: **/jzsr4

* * *

***APOV***

"Goodnight," I smiled as I went up on my tiptoes to kiss Embry. "I'll see you in the morning at work, okay?"

"Ooooh, a boss hooking up with his employee," he started laughing.

"As long as we keep it on the down low-"

"Maybe I don't _want_ to keep it on the down low," Embry stated. "Maybe I want everyone to know about us."

My stomach started feeling like I had butterflies again, and a blush crept onto my cheeks.

"Well, you're just going to have to wait, then," I teased, kissing him again.

"Alright," he pouted. "Sweet dreams, Ar. I love you."

"I love you, too," I squeezed his hand before letting it go and opening the apartment door.

Once I was inside, I quietly set my suitcase down on the floor and turned around.

"AHHHHHH!!!!" I screamed.

"Shhhhhh!" a hand was put over my mouth. "The baby's sleeping!"

"Alisa?" I squinted my eyes in the dark to see her better. "What are you _doing_? Were you spying on me?!"

"Not exactly."

I folded my arms across my chest and started tapping my foot impatiently.

"Well?"

"I was starving, so I came out to the kitchen to get a bag of chips, and then I heard your voice outside, so I sort of peered through that little lens-thingy on the door," she smiled in embarrassment.

"At least you're honest."

"And you and Embry are very cute together, I must say."

"I know," I smiled. "That was a good trip to La Push."

"Yeah……." She looked down at the ground. "By the way, why didn't you get home earlier? I thought that your plane was supposed to land around 5."

"We had car problems, so we had to get a later flight," I lied.

"Oh."

"Yep. I have to get up for work tomorrow, and it's pretty late, so I'm just gonna head to bed, alright?"

"Wait. Aria," Alisa grabbed my arm as I started walking away.

"Yes?"

"Someone's waiting for you," she said in a grim voice.

"Who?" I asked, confused. "Did you hire a hit man or something? I thought you loved me!"

"No," she laughed. "No. Not that. Just, somebody's waiting for you."

"Okay," I said slowly, not wanting to go into my room anymore.

"Nitey night. Don't let the bedbugs bite," Alisa told me cheerily as she walked off to bed.

When I got to my bedroom door, it was closed.

I put my hand on the cold doorknob and took a deep breath, turning it slowly.

As soon as I pushed the door open and saw who was waiting for me, I felt like I was going to throw up.

"Baby!" Logan cried as he got up off my bed and ran over to me. "I've missed you so much," he exclaimed, kissing me hard on the lips.

"I…… uh, I've missed you too," I smiled weakly, trying to ignore the guilt I was suddenly feeling.

_Don't think about Embry. Must not think about Embry._

But it didn't work. In a matter of two minutes, my guilt was starting to paralyze me.

_Maybe Embry and I shouldn't have…….. I shouldn't have gone behind Logan's back like that. I shouldn't have gone in too deep with Embry like that-_

"Alisa said that you took a trip back home. I wanted to surprise you, so…… surprise."

"Yeah," I laughed uncomfortably. "You definitely surprised me."

"I just…… you have no idea how good it feels, to be near you again; to _touch_ you again," he nuzzled his face into the side of my neck.

"Yeah," I answered flatly. "It feels so good."

Logan looked up at me in confusion.

"What's wrong, Ar? You don't seem happy to see me."

"Oh, no. I am," I lied. "I'm sorry, Logan, but I'm just really tired. See, the flight back was so long and-"

"It's okay," he smiled, brushing my hair out of my face. "I understand. Let's get some sleep. I'll be in town for another two days; we have plenty of time to get caught up."

"Okay," I forced out a smile. "I'm gonna go take a shower, and then I'll be back out."

"Can I join?" he asked suggestively.

Deep down, I was screaming no. But then the guilt kicked in.

"Sure."

* * *

***EPOV***

"Hey, you're back!" Kevin grinned, patting me on the back as I walked into work the next morning.

"Yep," I smiled back.

"So, how was La Push?"

"It was…… good."

"Good? What does that mean?"

"Let's just say we didn't want to leave," I laughed.

"Ohhhh, I see how it is," he elbowed me in the stomach. "Wait…… but I thought she was engaged?"

"Probably not anymore," I shrugged.

"Nice."

"Morning, boys," I heard a female voice say flatly as the door at the front of the restaurant jingled closed.

I was over by her in an instant.

"Good morning," I grinned, fighting the urge to kiss her. "How'd you sleep?"

We were at work, and there were lines that couldn't be crossed there.

"Not very good,"Aria shook her head slowly.

"Why?"

"I just…… I just don't feel very good today," she explained, rubbing her forehead with her hand.

"Do you need to go home and rest? It's not a problem if you-"

"No, Embry," she smiled softly, shaking her head. "You know me, I'll be fine."

A few hours later, Aria still had that scowl plastered across her face.

"Feeling any better?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I feel fine now."

"Then why the scowl?"

"I'm not scowling, see?" she forced out a smile.

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes. "Do you wanna go somewhere for lunch break? You don't seem like yourself today........"

"Uhhh, sure," she looked down at the ground. "That would be good."

* * *

"So," I said, turning to look at Aria as we walked down the street. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

She had her hands in her pockets with a serious look on her face. It was easy to see that something was bothering her.

"I don't know," was all she replied.

When we got to a little café and sat down, I pressed her for details again as I slurped up a hot bowl of soup.

"Come on, Aria. Tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help you."

"I don't think that this situation can be helped much."

"Aria," I reached across the table to hold her hands. "You know you can tell me anything."

"No, I can't."

"What do you mean?" I looked at her sideways.

"I just…. I don't-" she struggled to find the right words to say. "Embry," she took her hands out of mine. "I've been doing some thinking-"

My stomach dropped in that instant and I glared over at her. I had a pretty good feeling of what was coming next.

"And what we did- what _I_ did- was a huge mistake. I got so caught up in the moment that I didn't think before I acted and-"

"_What_?" I slammed my fist down on the table. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm not trying to be-"

"I can't believe you, Aria! We go to La Push, you tell me you love me, we have _sex_….. and then we come back home and you start this shit up again?"

"Embry, I-"

"No. Don't talk. I don't wanna hear it," I spat as I slapped a $10 bill on the table and got up out of my chair.

"But-" she sat down, watching me as I started to stand up.

"I thought you were finally _mine_, Aria," I told her. "I knew it was too good to be true."

She got up and grabbed my arm as I was walking away, stopping me.

"Embry, I never meant to-"

"Save it, Aria. I really don't want to hear it," I broke my arm from her grasp and walked out the door.

I went into a small alley on the side of the building and pressed my body against the cold brick wall, trying to calm down my erratic breathing as I watched my hands shake.

Why did things like this upset me so much?

* * *

***APOV***

I quietly closed the door and wiped away the mascara that had smudged earlier today with the sleeve of my shirt, hoping that I would be able to sneak off into my room in the apartment unnoticed.

"Hey, babe."

So much for that idea.

"Hey," I turned around, spotting Logan lying on the couch watching TV.

"I didn't know you were taking off work early today," he came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "When I met your boss today, and you weren't there, I just figured you were on lunch break or something."

"Neither did I," I mumbled. "Wait, you met my boss today?"

See, after Embry and I had lunch, he told me that I could "go home early if I wanted", but I knew that he really meant, "go home now so I don't have to deal with the pain of seeing you here today." I ended up walking halfway across the city to go meet up with Alisa at some store.

I felt bad, but there wasn't really anything else I could do.I told him that the things that happened in La Push were all a mistake, and in a way, they were.

But at the same time, I didn't want to regret them. At all.

I could see where Embry was coming from, though. One day, I would let my feelings get the best of me; the next day I'd take a step back and think about the situation. I wasn't exactly being fair to him.

But then went I saw the way Logan looked at me, or how happy he was to see me, I realized that I completely betrayed him, too. And that wasn't fair to him, either.

And that is exactly how my self-hate started brewing up inside.

Deep down, I wasn't really sure if I deserved _either_ of them.

"Yeah," Logan replied, not taking his eyes off the TV and interrupting me from my thoughts. "What was his name again? Em-something? It was a really weird name," he made a face.

Part of me got defensive. I always loved Embry's name.

"Oh."

"He seemed like a pretty nice guy, though."

I smiled to myself when I heard that. That was so like Embry- always polite, even when he was in an uncomfortable situation.

"Well, since you're back," Logan looked over at me expectantly. "I have an idea."

"What's that?"

"Let's go try……. Wedding cake!"

"Wedding cake? But you said that you didn't want to be a part of planning the wedding in any way. You said that was my job."

"I know," he smiled. "But I'm bored here in this crappy apartment, and I really want some cake."

"Okay," I said slowly.

"Is it okay if we walk there? I already researched this place on the internet. It's about 10 blocks away."

"Yeah, that's fine," I replied. "I could use the exercise. Besides, I have something to tell you."

* * *

"So, what's this big announcement?" Logan squeezed my hand in his as we walked down the street.

"Uh," I said, looking down at my feet.

I had no idea how to break the news to him. Was there even a good way to tell someone you cheated on them?

"Well, Logan, you know that I love you, right?"

He looked at me worriedly.

"Yes, of course."

"And you know that I don't want to ever hurt you, right?"

"Aria, you're making me worried."

"I just have to come clean to you," I stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk, and people were pushing past me to get around.

"Okay," he said slowly, running his hand through his hair.

"I, um, well-" I stuttered. "Remember Embry?"

"Your boss?"

"Yeah."

"What about him?"

"You see, well, uh, we sort of…….. kissed a few times and stuff."

He narrowed his eyes at me.

"You cheated on me Aria?"

"It depends on what you-"

"What did you do? Kiss, hug, do the bases, what?" he demanded.

"We just-"

"You better not have done anything too serious."

I looked around, trying to find a way to escape this mess. Maybe I shouldn't have told him. He always had slight anger problems.

"Aria?" he nudged me. "Tell me what you did, dammit!"

"We just kissed," I said quickly, fully aware that I was lying.

"How many times?" he growled.

"Twice. The first one was on accident, though."

"Do you have feelings for him, Ar?"

I looked up into his green eyes. I couldn't tell whether they were sad or pissed, but knowing Logan they were probably more pissed than sad.

"No," I lied again. "I love you. I only want to be with you."

"Good," he grabbed my hand again.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. It was unlike him to let something like this go so quickly.

"That's all?" I asked. "You're over it?"

"Hey," he shrugged. "We've both made mistakes in this relationship. It's okay. As long as we're honest with each other, and at the end of the day know that we only love each other, then it's all good."

I didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but decided not to talk about the issue any further.

We continued walking down the street.

"I can't believe you kissed him," Logan chuckled.

"Why?"

"He's so…… low."

"What? Embry Call is not low."

"Really? He's the owner of some crappy restaurant. I bet he barely makes $40,000 a year," he scoffed.

"Logan," I glared at him. "There are more important things in this world than money."

"I know," he nodded his head. "All I'm saying is that if you were going to risk our relationship like that, you could have at least done it with a guy who was worth it."

"What the hell, Logan?" I turned to him, my hand balled up in a fist.

"Woah, there. Don't get so upset!"

"He's worth more than you are, apparently," I turned around and started walking away from him.

Chasing after me, he grabbed me and turned me back around.

"Aria," he said apologetically. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just jealous that he got to be here with you when I couldn't. But I'm luckier, though," he grinned.

I put my hands on my hips.

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Because I actually get to marry you," he smiled, leaning down to kiss me on the lips.

When we broke apart, I couldn't help but to disagree with that statement.

Was _anyone _lucky if they got to marry me?

Judging by the way things were going in my life, the answer was absolutely, completely, 100%...........

No.

* * *

**A/N: Well, I hope that this chapter is alright. The big event in this story hasn't taken place yet, but it should in one or two chapters from now. College, studying, social life- Ugh, it took a while to get this chapter out, and even then, it wasn't a huge amount of time. Sorry. I'm really trying to update once a week, but it's been about two weeks between this chapter and the last one. Please review (it only takes like two seconds, I swear...... and yes that includes you alerters and favers who keep their thoughts about this story to themselves!), alert/fave if you wish, and have an AWESOME weekend! I also want to give out a big chocolate chip cookie to everybody who reads this story and appreciates my writing. You all have no idea how happy it makes me. :)**


	13. Chapter 12: Putting It All Together

**Disclaimer: SMeyer owns Twilight. I just wish I did. Well, sort of.**

* * *

***APOV***

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to keep the tears from spilling out as I felt my throat begin to burn. I wiped my mouth, stood up, and flushed the toilet as fast as I could, careful to not let myself look at what was projected into it less than two minutes ago.

Walking over to the sink, I rested my elbows on the counter and looked back at the woman in the mirror. Wow, if I wasn't sick, I sure looked like it.

I turned on the faucet and dampened a paper towel, blotting it over my face.

There. At least I felt a _little_ better.

"Are you okay?" Embry asked worriedly as soon as I walked out of the women's restroom. "That's the fourth time you've been in there today, and it's not even noon yet."

Embry.

He cared about me way more than I deserved. The first week after we got back from La Push, he was pretty distant, not that I could blame him. But as soon as Logan was gone, he started getting back to normal.

I don't know what I did to get someone like him in my life. I just didn't understand- everything that I did to him, everything that I took back, everything that I made him feel- yet he still always seemed to forgive me. No talking necessary, no questions asked. It was just a given.

I wished that he would just cuss me out, stop talking to me, _anything_ to give me what I really deserved. But he was always there with open arms, and that thought was always in the back of my mind, comforting me _and _guilt-tripping me at least 10 times a day.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I waved him off, trying to prove to him that I could handle whatever was going on with my body. "It's probably just a bug or something."

"This has been going on for the past five days," he pointed out.

"I know, I know," I said. "But it's not affecting my job or anything. I'm still here. See?"

"Actually, Aria, you work at a restaurant…… with _food._ So if you're sick, it's kind of important that you stay home."

"Alright," I sighed. "If you insist."

I went in the back to grab my purse and headed for the door.

"I'll stop by your place tonight, just to see how you're doing, okay?" Embry told me.

"Okay," I reached into my purse to pull out an umbrella. "See you then."

* * *

"What are you doing home so early?" Alisa asked the second I walked through the door.

"I'm sick; Embry said that I should just go home," I shrugged, kicking off my heels and shaking out my umbrella.

"Oh. What do you have?"

"I don't know, probably the flu or something. I've been puking every morning for the past five days," I cringed, walking over to the couch.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Alisa held her hand up. "You've been puking every morning this week?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"And you think you have the _flu_?" she looked at me like I was crazy.

"Yeah."

"Aria," she sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "Didn't you ever take Sex Ed?"

"What does this have to do with the flu?"

"It's got nothing to do with the flu, but it's got everything to do with pregnancy!" she almost shouted.

My eyes went wide.

"No way. You don't- You don't think that I'm…... pregnant, do you?" my voice quivered out, almost a whisper.

"When's the last time you got down and dirty?"

"Alisa!"

"I'm being serious!"

"About 3 weeks ago," I sighed. "When Logan came back to visit."

"That could be it. Were you…… careful?"

"We hardly even did anything."

"Okay," she said slowly. "So there's no chance that _that _could be causing this?"

"It's really unlikely."

She stood there, tapping her foot as she debated what to do next.

"Well, maybe you _are_ just sick. Want me to take you to the doctor?" she asked as she started dialing her cell phone. "What you're going through isn't normal, and we need to get it checked out if-"

"Wait."

She turned to look at me.

"Maybe there is another time."

"Another time of what?" she asked, confused. "_Oh_…… _another time_."

"Yeah."

She stood there expectantly, arms crossed, waiting for me to go on.

"You know how Embry and I went to La Push?" I asked uneasily.

The sides of her mouth twisted up in a grin.

"I knew it," she said. "I knew that you liked him!"

"No, Alisa," I lied. "It wasn't a big deal. We put it all behind us."

"Did you use protection?"

"Well," I bit down on my lip. "We, uh, well…… it was a heat-of-the-moment thing and-"

"Looks like you two might not be able to put it all behind you," she shook her head. "Damn, this is 'Days of Our Lives' material," she joked.

"Not funny," I glared at her. "What have I done?" I whined, sitting back into the couch.

"Hey now, don't get all upset," she said, reaching for my hand. "We don't even know if you're pregnant yet."

"Yeah, _yet_," I frowned, glancing down at my abdomen.

I already started to feel funny, like something was _different_. But that was silly, right? I mean, I might not even be pregnant, and even if I was, it's not like there was much of anything there.

My uterus was now #1 on my Most Hated List.

"I'm going to run across the street and get you a couple of tests at the drug store. Stay here and watch Max for me, will ya? He's just napping."

"Sure," I replied, going in the dark room to check on the sleeping baby.

I sat there on the floor, just watching him sleep, his chest moving up and down.

All that could go through my mind is that that might possibly be my life 9 months from now.

* * *

"I have to drink _all _of that?" I asked in disbelief as Alisa filled up a huge jug full of water.

"You don't think these pregnancy tests are going to pee on themselves, do you?"

"How many did you buy?" I looked at the bag, which was overflowing with pink and red boxes.

"Eight, but only because I wanted to try out as many brands as possible. We need an accurate result," she pulled them out of the bag one by one. "We've got First Response, E.P.T.-"

"Ugh, please stop," I held my hand up. "All of this is just making me sick."

"You're gonna be okay, honey," Alisa rubbed my back. "Now, drink up and get peeing!"

* * *

"Has it been two minutes yet?" I asked impatiently as I stared at the eight pregnancy tests sitting on the counter.

It was kind of funny, how one stick of plastic- or eight- could ultimately change the rest of my life.

Well, not funny, really. Just scary.

Very, very scary.

But what the hell was I expecting? I knew what unprotected sex meant. I guess I just didn't care at the time. Actually, when I was with Embry, I didn't really have a care or worry in the world, but that was beside the point.

"Wait just another minute, so that we can read all of the tests at the same time," Alisa said, intently staring at her watch as she sat on the edge of the bathtub.

I sat on the floor with my knees to my chest, rocking back and forth.

"Okay…….. now!"

I sprang up, but suddenly froze in my tracks.

"I can't look."

"Aria, yes you can."

"No, I can't. Will you tell me?"

"Ew, I'm not touching your pee sticks," she frowned.

"Fine," I sighed, walking over to the counter.

Three of the tests were negative and five of them were positive.

"Well, what does that mean?" I turned around to face Alisa.

"You're gonna have to go to the doctor and get a test done."

"Then why the hell did you spend over $100 bucks on these tests?!"

"It's okay. You would have had to get one even if they were all positive, anyway," she replied. "I'll be right back."

I hopped up onto the bathroom counter and looked at myself closely in the mirror.

Four months ago, this was not where I pictured my life to be.

I pictured myself in love with my fiancé, having fun with my sister before I had to be tied down to that huge commitment.

But what ended up happening was me falling in love with a completely different guy and then possibly having his baby.

Life was just chuck full of surprises, wasn't it?

"Okay," Alisa said, walking back into the room. "You can get a free test done at Planned Parenthood anytime. I just called. Want to go now?"

"Sure," I replied, jumping off the counter. "The sooner we find out, the better."

Or the worse.

* * *

"Miss, I'm happy to say that your results are positive," the nurse told me after I got my blood test done.

Good thing I was sitting down, because I sure as hell wouldn't have been able to stand up.

It felt like my whole world had just come crashing down.

"Miss?" the nurse repeated, trying to get me to say something.

But I was speechless.

"Uh, she says thank you," Alisa spoke up. "Aria, did you hear that? You're gonna be a mommy."

I nodded my head slowly, trying my hardest not to break down.

"Is she going to be okay?" the nurse asked Alisa, gesturing towards me.

"She'll deal. We can leave now, right?" she asked the nurse.

"Yes."

"Thank you," Alisa said to her before helping me out of my chair.

As soon as we were on the street, I hugged Alisa tightly, crying.

"Shhh, it's gonna be okay," she comfortingly rubbed my back.

"No it's not!" I sobbed. "I'm messing my whole life up! This wasn't supposed to happen!"

"If you really think about it, most pregnancies aren't supposed to happen. They just do, whether it's a one-night stand or a condom malfunction or-"

"Or because the baby's daddy is your best friend who you secretly are in love with but can't be with because you have to be with a guy that loves you unconditionally and has given so much to you and your family that you would feel guilty if you left him?" I rambled out, sobbing into my sister's chest.

"Uhh, sure. I forgot to list that one."

"I don't know what to do, Alisa. I feel so…… helpless. I feel trapped!"

"Maybe you should tell Embry."

"I don't know if I can," I looked down at the ground. "It's going to ruin everything."

"Right. Because never letting him have the chance to know his own child is so much better," Alisa rolled her eyes.

"I'll tell him," I decided. "But only when I'm ready."

"Aria, I know how you are. You won't be ready until that kid's 30 years old!"

"I'll tell him before the baby is born."

"No. You tell him before you hit the 6 month mark."

"But I'll be getting married when I'm 6 months along."

"Exactly," she smiled.

"That leaves me to another question," I thought aloud.

"And that would be……..?"

"What the hell do I tell Logan?"

"Tell him that you're getting fatter and that you have a bad case of mysterious nausea," Alisa shrugged.

"Very funny," I replied sourly.

"I say that you tell him the truth."

"I can't yet. He already hates Embry to start with. If he finds out, he'd probably kill him."

"And then he'd drop you like a fly, which isn't necessarily a bad thing," she pointed out.

"Yes, it is. Even though I love Embry, I still love Logan."

"Well then choose one already!" she threw her hands in the air. "It's not that hard. You can't keep playing guys like musical chairs. I'm getting sick and tired of it, Aria. You know it's not fair to either of them."

"I know," I hung my head down. "Don't you think I've thought about all of this already?"

"Maybe you have, maybe you haven't. But I know one thing."

"What's that?"

"You're not being fair to yourself, either. Sometimes, when you're in love, you have to screw right and wrong and just go with how you _feel_."

"It's not that easy," I stated.

"Only because you make it that way."

* * *

***EPOV***

"Yo, Embry," Alisa smiled at me as she opened the door. "What's up?"

"I told Aria that I'd check up on her later today," I smiled back. "Is she feeling any better?"

"Not really," she made a face. "She's in her bedroom. Make a left down that pathetic excuse for a hallway and her door is the only one on the right."

"Thanks," I chuckled.

"No prob."

I walked to her door and knocked on it quietly.

She didn't answer, so I quietly turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Aria was sleeping on top of her bed, her black hair falling messily around her shoulders and her face. I smiled softly and crept towards her, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

I watched as her chest moved up and down in rhythm with her breathing. Every once in a while, she would stir in her sleep, and I would start to panic. The last thing I wanted was for her to catch me watching her while she slept…….

Finally, her eyelids fluttered open and she rolled over onto her side, facing me.

To my surprise, she didn't start freaking out on me.

"Embry," she whispered drowsily, yawning. "I…… I…."

"Don't feel good. I know, Ar. I know," I finished for her. "It's okay. You need to rest."

"But…… But I-" she hesitated.

"You what?"

"Nevermind," she shook her head, yawning and drifting back off to sleep.

I brushed her hair out of her face and covered her with her bedsheets.

Something in her sheets caught my eye. It looked like a book. I guess Aria feel asleep while she was reading.

I lifted the part of the sheet and quickly read the title on the cover:

_What To Expect When You're Expecting_

And then it hit me- the nausea, the tiredness, the constant eating and trips to the bathroom.

I couldn't believe that I didn't catch on sooner.

Aria was _pregnant._

Now, not only was she getting married to her asshole of a fiancé, but they were having a baby together.

I guess she was finally getting everything she wanted. Or everything she _wanted_ people to think she wanted.

I felt my stomach drop, and I knew that I had to get out of there.

Suddenly, I felt devastated.

Aria didn't feel like mine anymore.

In every single way possible, she was making it more and more clear that she _wasn't_ mine. Who was I kidding? She was having a baby with Logan; she sealed the deal. I was just a mistake that she could look back on.

I had to get out of that room- I just couldn't take it.

Why taunt yourself with something you know that you can never have?

* * *

"Aria, can I see you alone?" I asked her the next day at work.

"Sure," she replied flatly, not bothering to look at me.

I didn't know why, but for some reason, she kept avoiding me. No eye contact, no talking, nothing. Maybe she was mad about me coming over like that last night?

She followed me into the back of the restaurant and closed the door behind us as we walked into my office.

"What do you need to see me for?" she asked, sitting down into a chair.

"When were you going to tell me that you're pregnant?" I asked slowly, trying to not come off as too forceful.

"I'm not," she lied.

"How stupid do you think I am?"

"I'm really not pregnant."

"Aria, you've been puking every morning this week, you're tired, you're even more emotional than usual. You make at least 8 trips to the bathroom a day and you eat everything in sight when you're on your lunch break. You're reading _What To Expect When You're Expecting__. _Don't lie to me."

"Oh. You saw that book in my room last night, didn't you?" she looked down at her hands resting on her lap.

"Yeah."

"Well, I was going to tell you. I just found out yesterday, though, and I wanted to wait for a week or so."

"So you're definitely pregnant?" I asked, hoping that she'd come out and say that it was all a big joke or that she took a defective test or something.

"Yes," she nodded. "I've gone to the doctor. I'm pregnant."

"Okay," I said, trying to hide the emotion in my voice.

"Is this going to affect my job or anything?"

"No. How far along are you?" I asked.

"I think around 3 or 4 weeks. I don't know yet. I go to the doctor this Tuesday for my first appointment."

"That's……. exciting."

"Not really," she replied. "I'm scared out of my mind. And to top it all off, I have to go to my appointment all by myself."

Her stupid fiancé couldn't even take the time out of his busy schedule to go with her?

Even though the thought of Aria having a baby made me sick, I didn't like the thought of her having to go all alone.

"Well, uh…… I could go with you. If you want," I offered. "I don't want you to have to go by yourself."

"I don't know, Embry. It might be kind of-"

"It's okay if you don't want me to go. I understand."

"Okay. Can I get back out there now?" she asked, standing up out of her seat.

"Yeah. Go ahead."

Two minutes later, she bustled through my door.

"The appointment's at 2 o'clock," she said, handing me a card with a doctor's name on it.

She walked back out and left me all alone.

Twiddling the card between my fingers, I took a deep breath.

What did I just get myself into?

* * *

**A/N: Well, this chapter really fucks everything up, doesn't it? Some people messaged me telling me that they wanted to smack Aria in the last chapter, and you know what? I LOVE THAT. I love being able to write about a character and actually make people FEEL something while they're reading! Oh, and EverUley- YOU ROCK. Finally one of the silent alerters has spoken! Lol. Okay, well it's getting late, loves. Please, if anything, REVIEW. Alert/fave if you wish. And as always: Thanks for reading! (Does it get old hearing me say that????)**


	14. Chapter 13: Yours, Mine Ours

**A/N: This chapter was originally posted, yet somehow got deleted (I have no idea how!!!!) And with my luck, it was no longer saved on my computer, so I had to rewrite the whole chapter...... again. I realize that this isn't exactly how the original chapter was. I tried making it as close as possible, but it's been awhile and I've forgotten. I hope this clears some things up for people and fills in that gap.**

***APOV***

I took a deep breath to calm myself as Embry and I walked through the gigantic automatic doors and into the hospital. Hospitals always made me nervous for some reason, but today, I wanted nothing more than to turn around and run right back outside.

"Why do you look so nervous?" Embry asked, eyeing me skeptically. "It's just a sonogram, right? Not a big deal."

"I know," I said slowly, picking up on the odd tone of his voice. "It's just…. I don't know. Hospitals always make me nervous."

"How come?"

"I'm not exactly sure," I shook my head, chuckling to myself as I pressed the button for the elevator.

After 5 minutes of waiting, an elevator finally opened, and we walked into it, just him and I. I pressed the button for the 12th floor, and we rode in silence until the 7th floor. I hated the silence that was between us, so I had to break it. We normally weren't like this.

"So, have you ever been to one of these?" I asked timidly, just trying to strike up a conversation.

"Nope, can't say that I have," he shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets and looking away. "But then again, how many bosses come to these things with their employees? It's kinda weird."

"You didn't have to come if you didn't want to," I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest. "I thought that as a friend, you would be here to support me."

"Yeah, but come on, Aria. How many guys go to these things?"

"A lot, actually. Look, I know this isn't exactly the most normal situation, but we don't exactly have the most normal relationship. If you don't want to be here, then fine. Go home, Embry. I don't care. I'm a big girl; I can handle this by myself," I sniffed, not realizing that I was starting to cry.

"Aria," Embry's voice softened. "Are you crying? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"You didn't have to come with me today. I didn't force you," I said softly, interrupting him.

_I just wanted you to see your own baby up on that screen._

He didn't reply, but when the elevator doors opened and I walked out, he followed me.

"Hello, Aria," a short man with dark thinning hair and a stethoscope knocked on the door and came in with a smile. "I'm Dr. Halford. It's so nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand."

"Nice to meet you, too," I forced out a smile, shaking his hand in return.

"And who's this?" the doctor asked, motioning toward Embry.

"That's Embry," I replied. "He's….."

_He's my baby's daddy._

"I'm a close friend of Aria's," Embry finished for me, saving me the trouble of coming up with what to say. "Her fiancé couldn't be here, so I guess I'm just the fill-in for today."

_No you're not! You're not just his fill-in. You're more attached to this situation that he'll ever be-_

"It was nice of you to tag along," Dr. Halford smiled. "Well," he clapped his hands together. "Let's see if we can get a heartbeat and a picture today."

"Alright," I said slowly, not knowing what to expect.

"If you lie back on this seat," he said. "Then we can get a better view of your abdomen."

I laid back into the seat, finally feeling comfortable for the first time today. Well, I _was_ feeling comfortable until the doctor reached over and started lifting up my shirt.

"Uhhh," I said uneasily. "What are you doing?"

My head shot to the direction of Embry's laughter. "What?"

"Aria, he has to get the jelly stuff on your belly somehow. I can't believe I know more about this than you do," he laughed.

"That's what worries me," I mumbled to myself as I relaxed again and let the doctor do his job.

"Okay," Dr. Halford said, holding up a tube. "This is going to be cold, so I'm giving you a warning."

He squirted a jelly-like substance onto my stomach and my breathing hitched in response to the ice-cold temperature of it.

"Wow, you weren't kidding."

"Now, when I put this around," he said, grabbing an instrument hooked up to a TV monitor. "We'll be able to hear the baby's heartbeat and even see it up on that screen. Embry, would you mind turning off the lights for me, please?"

"Sure."

As soon as the lights were turned off, I started to hear a sound that resembled a little heartbeat.

"Is that the-"

"Heartbeat? Yes it is," the doctor finished for me. "If you look closely," he pointed to a small white dot up on the screen. "You can see the baby, right here."

It didn't look like much- just like a little peanut or something. But in that moment, reality hit me like a blow to the stomach. My baby was _real._ In less than nine months, my life was going to change completely. And before then, my _body_ was going to change completely. Embry and I created a little life together. That fact alone was so huge, so monumental, that it was difficult to wrap my head around it.

I glanced over at Embry and to my surprise, he didn't look happy. He wasn't even looking at the screen. Instead, his face was in his hands. Was he okay?

"Em?" I propped myself up, looking over at him with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he perked his head up. "I'm fine."

But the look on his face suggested otherwise.

* * *

"Oh my gosh….. look right there! See that? I think that's its nose! Wait….. maybe not- maybe it's just its-"

"Aria, I know you're excited, but spare me, please," Embry snapped, pushing the sonogram picture away. "And I don't think that's its nose. The doctor said you're barely even 6 weeks along."

"Fine. Go ahead and ruin my excitement," I scowled as we once again waited for the elevator.

When we got on, I stood on one side, and Embry on the other, his black hoodie up and his hands in his pockets. Not a word passed between us. Sometimes we would make eye contact, but when we did, he always looked away. I didn't know what was wrong with him today- it wasn't like him to be such an asshole.

The elevator stopped on the 3rd floor, and a couple walked on. The woman looked so pregnant that she could pop any second, and her husband had his arm around her waist ever-so-sweetly.

"Feel, Will!" she said excitedly, taking his hand and putting it over her stomach. "She's kicking."

"She is," the man's face lit up. "I love you so much."

I looked over at Embry and our eyes met. I made the extra effort of rolling my eyes, acting like I was just as fed up with this lovey-dovey couple as he was, but deep down……. I actually wished that me and him were like that.

* * *

***EPOV***

I can't believe that I ever agreed to go to this stupid doctor's appointment today with Aria. Was I crazy? I mean, the baby wasn't even mine! _Aria_ wasn't even mine. That alone hurt enough. But what really put me over the edge was seeing her and Logan's baby up on the monitor. That baby wasn't supposed to be his; it was supposed to be _mine._ Aria was supposed to be with me, not him. But now, it was Aria, Logan, and their baby, one big fucking happy family. And then there was me, lonely pathetic Embry, just sitting on the sideline.

From the start, I was in a bad mood today. I knew that Aria picked up on it, too. After all, I almost made her cry in the elevator. But really, what the hell was she expecting? Why did she even bring me with her? Didn't she know that it was going to be hard on me, or was she just being selfish again?

If this was her way of finally getting her point across that we can't ever be together, then fine, I got it. _I really fucking got it._ But she could have chosen a better way to do it!

So when she turned and asked me, "What the hell is your problem?" when I dropped her off at her apartment, I just couldn't resist.

"What the hell is my problem? _What the hell is my problem?_" I repeated, clenching my fists as I started to shake.

Aria's eyes widened and she took a step back.

"Embry, please don't be like this. You're going to phase."

I took several deep breaths and closed my eyes, trying to regain composure. Yes, I was mad at Aria, but if I ended up phasing and hurting her and yes, even her baby, I'm pretty sure that I would be mad at myself for the rest of my life.

"You want to know what my problem is, huh?" I asked, calmer this time.

She nodded.

"Well, Aria, how would you feel if the person you're in love with is having a baby with somebody else and takes you along to their doctor's appointment to rub it in your face. Hmmm? How would you feel?"

She looked up at me, and I could see anger flash before her eyes.

"You think I'm trying to rub it in your face that I'm having a baby with Logan and not you?" she asked.

"Why else would you have brought me along? You didn't honestly think I really wanted to go along, did you?"

Her lip started to quiver, and I knew that I had gone too far.

_Great, make her cry twice in one day, asshole. Look at what a great imprinter you are!_

"Please don't cry, Aria. I don't like it when you cry."

"Shut up, Embry. I'm not going to cry; I'm not going to give you the satisfaction."

Satisfaction? She actually thought that I _liked _seeing her cry?

"You think I like seeing you cry?" I scoffed. "I'd do anything for you to be happy. I don't like it when you're upset!"

"Then why do you accuse me of the stupidest shit?! I may not be sure of a lot of things in my life right now, but I am sure of one thing. I didn't bring you with me today to upset you or to 'rub it in your face,'" she replied, using air quotes.

"Then why did you bring me, then?"

"Because…… because-"

"Because why, Aria? You can tell me."

"No, I can't. You're going to hate me."

"Aria, I could never hate you. That's impossible."

"No. I can't tell you. It's too hard."

"Aria," I said, reaching out for her. "Just tell me, please."

"No," she replied curtly. "I'm not going to..... I, I _can't._"

And then she shut the door, leaving me out in the hallway all by myself.

"Fuck my life!" I said in frustration as I kicked the ground and walked away, determined to not look back at her stupid apartment door.

I was halfway to the stairs when I heard a voice call out, "Embry! Embry!"

I turned around, not expecting to see Aria running towards me…… but yet there she was, with an urgent look on her face.

"Aria, what are you-"

"It's yours," she breathed. "Embry, I'm so sorry for not telling you sooner. I really wanted to, but-"

"Wait, what's mine?" I asked in confusion.

She put her hand over her flat stomach and I instantly knew what she was talking about.

Why didn't she tell me sooner? Did she originally plan on not telling me at all? How was I supposed to deal with all of this news _now?_

"I….. I have to go," I said quickly, shaking my head and slowly walking away from her.

"Embry, please don't do this," Aria's face fell. "Come back with me. I want to talk about this."

"No….. no. I can't. I don't want to talk right now."

I bolted for the stairs, only looking back once to see Aria's face crumple as she started to cry.

_Way to go, Embry,_ I thought to myself. _Three times in one day- what a great guy you are._

* * *

I didn't know what was wrong with me. Earlier today, I was upset because I thought Aria was having a baby with another guy, but then when she said that it was actually mine, I _still _was upset.

But how was I supposed to feel? Most guys I know would probably freak out. I wasn't freaking out, it's just that I was so…. Overwhelmed.

As I sat on a park bench, observing all of the activity around me, I thought long and hard about everything. Hearing the kids on the playground laughing and playing, seeing couples walking babies in strollers along the sidewalks- it was like I was looking into my future.

In less than nine months, I would have a baby in this world. A living, breathing, walking, talking baby. A baby that has feelings and thoughts; a baby that will grow up someday. A baby I have to protect and love and raise. Part of Aria, and part of me, combined- it seemed like one of the biggest responsibilities in the world, and it scared the shit out of me.

But that's silly, right? I was a werewolf, for crying out loud! I used to deal with bloodsuckers and all sorts of mayhem on a daily basis. Yet this was one of the scariest and most surreal moments of my life.

And then there was the question as to what was even going to happen. Was Aria going to break up with Logan and be with me, so that we could raise our child together? Was she going to stay with him, but give me parental rights and visitation? Or was she going to deny me my own kid for as long as I lived? So many questions were running through my head.

I sighed, not knowing where to even begin. What was I supposed to do next? Suddenly, I thought of my pack. What would Quil or Jake do? I just needed somebody to talk to right now.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed a number, breathing a sigh of relief when that familiar voice answered on the other end.

"Hey, Em. What's up?"

"Uh, Jake? I have a problem."

"A problem? What kind of problem?" he sounded concerned.

"Well, you see, Aria's kinda sorta having a baby," I forced out.

"Okay…… I'm pretty sure you called me like a week ago telling me this exact same thing," he said slowly.

"No! There's more…… turns out I'm the father."

The sound of the dial tone filled my ears, and I hung up the phone angrily.

Immediately, my phone began to ring again.

"Thanks for hanging up on me, Jake," I said in annoyance.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I just…. I'm shocked. But congrats, man!"

"I'm so lucky, aren't I?" I replied sarcastically.

"Aw, come on, Embry. It's a _baby;_ a blessing!"

"What a great fucking blessing," I mumbled.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd be ecstatic over something like this."

"I don't know how to feel honestly," I admitted. "If anything, this just complicates things even more. What if Aria never lets me see the baby and I never get a relationship with my own child? I don't want to be like my dad was. I want to be in it's life! What if she-"

"You need to stop thinking about all of the 'What-Ifs' and just go talk to Aria about this," Jake advised. "You might be freaking out over nothing."

"I don't think she wants to see me again today. We've haven't exactly been getting along."

"Well, what's new?" he chuckled. "She's your imprint, though. She'll forgive you. You just need to go talk to her."

"But what if-"

"Hey! Stop with the 'What-Ifs!" he laughed. "Talk. To. Her. That's all you can do for now. Look, I gotta go patrol now. I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Okay. Have fun," I teased.

"Don't I always?" Jake snorted. "Remember Embry- a baby's a blessing!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said as I hung up the phone.

I put my phone back in my pocket and looked up at the sky, contemplating whether or not to follow Jacob's advice. Finally, I gave in and decided to go see Aria again.

As I walked back through the park, I noticed a small little girl, just walking around by herself. The closer I got to her, I realized that something wasn't quite right. She was crying, and it looked like she was scared. I bent down to talk to her, my 6'7 frame hovering over her small body.

"Are you alright?" I asked her politely as she looked at me, shaking her head no.

"I can't find my mommy," she started crying again.

I didn't want to leave this little girl alone by herself in the park. I guess my paternal instincts were already starting to kick in.

"Shhh, shhh. It's okay. I'll help you find her. What does she look like?"

"Mommy tells me not to talk to strangers," the little girl told me. "Unless you know them."

"Well, I'm Embry. What's your name?"

"Sierra."

"That's a very pretty name," I smiled at her. "See, now we know each other. What does your mommy look like so that I can help you find her?"

"She's tall and pretty."

"Okay….. anything else?"

"She has red hair."

"Hmmm….. red hair, huh? Come on, let's go look for her."

She automatically grabbed my hand, which took me back a little, but made me feel a little good about myself. I didn't want her to wander around here by herself; not all strangers were as nice as I was.

Finally, after about 5 minutes of searching, I finally spotted a tall woman with red hair frantically walking through the park. That must be her mother.

"Is that your mommy?" I asked Sierra, pointing ahead.

Her face lit up before she screamed, "YES!" and ran over to her as fast as she could.

"Oh my God. Sierra!" the woman exclaimed as she bent down to pick her daughter up. "What have I told you about wandering away from me in the park, young lady?"

"You say not to do it," she shook her head. "But mommy- that man over there helped me find you! He's really nice," she pointed to me.

"He helped you find me?" she asked skeptically.

"Mhmmm. His name is Embry."

"Hi, Embry," the woman said shyly, holding out her hand. "I'm Jess, Sierra's mom. Nice to meet you."

"Same to you," I said, shaking her hand.

"Thank you so much for bringing her back to me. I swear, I'm a way better mother than you probably think I am," she chuckled.

"That's alright," I smiled. "Sometimes kids get crazy and run off. Stuff happens."

"Yeah….. so what brings you to the park today?" she asked, trying to strike up a conversation with me.

"I came here to just sort my mind out, I guess."

"I like to do that here sometimes."

"Yeah. Well, I have to get going," I replied, not wanting to really talk anymore.

"Maybe I'll see you around sometime, Embry," Jess smiled at me.

What was that supposed to mean?

* * *

***APOV***

I always screwed things up. Always.

Even when I think back to growing up, I never could do things quite right. Or I'd do them right, then mess one tiny thing up in the process. And here I was, at 25 years old, still messing things up; still screwing up my life.

Part of it- okay, most of it- was my fault. There's no doubt about that. After I moved here to New York City, it seemed like my somewhat-stable life started unraveling the second I met Embry Call.

I tried acting like I didn't feel anything for him. Hell, I've even told him numerous times that we couldn't be anything more. But it was just like a rollercoaster- my feelings went up and down. I could never seem to make up my mind on whether or not I wanted to be with him or not. I always ended up convincing myself that I was fine without him, yet here I was, crying my eyes out over him.

When I told him that the baby was actually his, I didn't expect him to react the way he did. I expected him to at least be happy. But the look on his face said it all- he was shocked, he was angry, he didn't want to be around me anymore. I wouldn't have been surprised if he hated me by now. I couldn't blame him though; he always seemed to take me back every time, but once again, _I always screwed things up._

I was lying on the couch, flipping through the channels on the TV like some pathetic, depressed person, when I heard a loud knocking on my door. I rushed to the bathroom, wiping the runny makeup from my eyes, and opened up the door. To my surprise, Embry was standing there, and he didn't look too upset anymore.

"Oh, Aria," he said softly, reaching down to wipe my eyes. "How long have you been crying?"

"What are you talking about?" I said, pushing his hand away. "I haven't been crying," I lied, trying to put up another front.

"Yes you have. I can tell," he hung his head down. "And it's mostly my fault."

I looked up at him and our brown eyes met. I held his gaze for a minute before speaking.

"Embry, get in here. We need to talk."

I grabbed his large, warm hand and led him inside, straight to the couch.

"I'm not exactly sure how I feel right now," he took a deep breath, running his hand up and down my arm.

"Me either," I cracked a slight smile. "I have no idea what to do."

"Well, I don't know, either. So I guess we're in this together."

"Just so you know," I said slowly, struggling to find the right words. "I really want you to be in our baby's life, Embry."

"You do?" he looked at me in surprise.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I really do. I think I owe it to the both of you."

When he didn't reply, I started to get worried.

"Unless of course, you don't _want_ to be in its life, then you don't have to. I just thought that-"

"Aria," he replied, taking both of my hands in his. "Of course I want to be in our baby's life!"

"Really?" I asked, tears forming in my eyes.

"Yeah. Our relationship may be complicated as hell, but this is one of the best possible things that could come out of it. Why would I waste that?" he asked me.

"Well, what about Logan? How in the hell am I supposed to tell him? He's going to be so pissed, probably. Ugh, I don't even want to think about-"

"Relax, Ar. We'll tell him _together._"

"Together?" I repeated.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I promise you that I'm going to be here for you, Aria. No matter what, you can always count on me. We'll go through this _together_."

"Thank you," I whispered, fighting the urge to just wrap my legs around him and kiss him.

"For what?" he asked.

"For always being there for me. Even when I screw up, you're always there. I don't deserve it," I shook my head.

"You're too hard on yourself, sometimes," he shook his head. "I wish you saw yourself the same way I see you."

"Is that really any better?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Well….. not really," he teased.

"Embry!" I hit him with a pillow.

"Just kidding," he flashed me that wolfy grin. "The way I see you is hard to describe. You're one-of-a-kind, Aria. The best way to describe you is…… perfectly imperfect, I guess. Everything you do, everything you are….. everything you _aren't_- just makes me love.... I mean like, you more."

I didn't even realize how close our faces were until he pulled away, leaving me feeling unexpectedly disappointed.

"I, uh, I need to go," he said quickly, getting up from the couch. "_Boundaries, boundaries, stupid damn boundaries," _I heard him mutter under his breath.

He was about out the door before I realized he was forgetting something.

"Em, wait!" I shouted. "I have something for you."

I ran to grab my purse and searched hectically for that picture.

"What's this?" he asked as soon as I put the piece of paper into his hand.

As he unfolded the picture, a smile broke out across his face.

"It's the ultrasound from today," I explained to him. "I figured you'd want a copy for your apartment or something."

"Thanks," he said as he wrapped me in a hug, almost crushing me.

"Uh, Em, can you let go? I can't breathe."

"Oh, sorry. Don't wanna crush our baby, right?" he laughed.

"Righto……"

I watched him contentedly as he walked down the hall, just happy that things were good between us again. We were in this together, not just for my sake, not just for his, but for our baby's sake.

Me and Embry.

Embry and me.

_Our._

That little 3-letter word seemed to make this pregnancy already a million times better.

* * *

**A/N: Like I said, this chapter isn't exactly like the original, which really disappoints me because I REALLY liked that chapter!!!!! Oh well :( Most of you read it already anyways. I hope that this one was an alright substitute. I'm not completely satisfied with it, but it was bugging me that there was this huge missing chapter in my story so I took an hour out of my day to concoct this one. The rest of the chapters after this are still the same. Thanks for reading! **


	15. Chapter 14: Too Damn Stubborn

**A/N: In about 24 hours, New Moon will be in theaters! HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!**

**Oh, and by the way, Smeyer is the cash cow who owns the Twilight world........... not me. So all credit for the original characters/concepts/etc. goes to her, not me. I'm just the college student with crappy writing skills who likes to mess with her characters when I'm bored. That is all.**

* * *

***EPOV***

"John?"

"There's only a zillion of those out in the world already……"

"Josiah?"

"I'm not _that_ religious."

"Joshua?"

"Nope," Aria turned and threw a pillow at the wall.

"You have to stop being so picky," I chuckled.

"I can't help it," she sighed. "That's just the way I am."

"Yeah, but we've spent an hour going over names. And you've only liked _two_."

"That's not true! Remember, I liked that one girl name. What was it, again? Ava, Ayla, eh, something with an A."

"That was after you thought for 20 minutes about how you would spell it."

"Hey, you have to keep in mind that whatever name we choose follows this kid for the rest of his or her _life_," Aria said, rubbing her now noticeable stomach. "If they don't like it, they won't like us!"

She was now 4 months along. Okay, so maybe her bump wasn't _that_ noticeable. But you could definitely tell she was pregnant.

"Trust me, _I know_," I said, leaning back into the couch and rubbing my eyes.

"I don't know why you don't like your name, Em. _I _like it."

"Just do our kid a favor and don't name them after any of your favorite soap opera stars, okay?" I asked, remembering how my own mother named me after hers.

"Gotcha," she laughed. "Ya know, maybe we need to stop pushing it so much. The name thing, I mean. Maybe we can be like those parents who take the first look at their baby and just _know_ what it's name should be."

I raised my eyebrows.

"You really think that's gonna work between us?"

"No," she put a finger to her chin. "Maybe not. We'd probably bicker too much……"

"We would," I smiled. "You know what would make this easier? If we just found out what we're having already."

Ever since three appointments ago, Aria's doctor told us that we could find out the sex of the baby, if we wanted to know. I wanted to know, but Aria didn't, so alas, we didn't find out…….. yet.

"No! We can't do that! What about the mystery, the excitement?!"

"What about how much easier it would make everything?"

Aria looked up at me, staring right at my face. She was thinking.

"Okay," she gave in, scooting closer to me. "_You_ can find out the sex of the baby, but just don't let me find out."

"Well that's no good!"

"I want to be surprised," she crossed her arms on her chest.

"You're not going to change your mind, are you?"

She just looked over at me and smiled; of course I already knew the answer to that.

"You're too damn stubborn," I shook my head.

"And you know me too damn well," she said as she got up from the couch, ruffling my hair as she did so.

* * *

"But if she doesn't tell me what she wants, how am I supposed to know? You know?" Kevin was venting to me about some stupid fight he had with Tracey the night before.

I tried to look like I was paying attention, but really, I wasn't. I was too busy staring at Aria towards the front of the restaurant. Sometimes I still couldn't believe that we were having a baby together, but when we went to the doctor, and saw and heard that tiny little thing up on the screen, I knew that it was all real.

"Hello?" Kevin waved a hand in front of my face. "Helloooo?"

"What?" I blinked, coming back to reality.

"Will you stop staring at her?"

"I'm not staring," I lied.

"Then what are you looking at?"

"The…….." I stalled. "The painting on that wall over there," I pointed. "It's so…… pretty?"

"You've always hated that painting, remember? You said the fat lady reminds you of your creepy Aunt Sadie."

"Okay," I sighed. "You're right- I was staring at Aria."

"You need to get out more. Only 6 more months until your life as you know it is over. Live it up."

Kevin knew all about the whole Aria situation. Well, except the imprinting part. But he knew that Aria was having my baby. I knew that he was getting fed up with me always coming back to her, and he was always trying to set me up with new girls. But I always refused- what was the point, anyway? It's not like any of them would ever be able to take Aria's place.

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"We could go clubbing?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Tracey would just love that," I rolled my eyes sarcastically.

"Hey, it's not my fault that your baby mama's newfound pregnancy all of a sudden has Tracey so eager to get knocked up," he huffed. "She even sold our cappuccino machine for a _'How to Get Pregnant' _book."

"They make books for that?!" I cracked up.

"Yeah," he nodded slowly. "It's quite pathetic, really."

"Isn't 7th grade Sex Ed enough to teach you about all of that shit-"

"Excuse me," one of the waitresses, Candice, interrupted our pointless conversation. "I have a food complaint."

Kevin and I exchanged a glance, and I nodded, letting him know that I would handle this one.

"Okay," I said, standing up. "What's the problem?"

"This lady's chicken is like, half-cooked," she replied, making a face. "That's the 2nd complaint we've had this month."

"Ugh, I know. Any more of these and I'm gonna have to fire somebody," I rolled up my sleeves, motioning for Candice to lead me to the customer's table.

We walked over to a small table where a very pissed off woman was sitting.

"Hi," I spoke up, trying not to irk the woman any more. "I'm one of the managers here. I heard that your food isn't to your liking?"

"To my liking?" the woman looked up at me. "_To my liking?_ This food isn't even safe enough to eat!" she pushed the plate of chicken towards me. "I ordered this for my granddaughter. Good thing I checked her food, or else we might be in the hospital with a case of food poisoning later!"

Wow, this woman really was pissed.

"I understand," I nodded my head. "Undercooked food is totally unacceptable. What if we replace this meal for free and give you a free appetizer? Would that help to make things better?"

"My grandbaby could have gotten food poisoning and you try to make up for it with a _free appetizer?!_" she shot me a death glare.

"Woah, Mom. You can take it down a notch."

I turned around to see a women, along with her little daughter, walking back to sit down at the table.

For some reason, she looked familiar, but I couldn't place her.

"I'm a very picky person when it comes to eating out. You know that," the mother explained to her daughter.

Rolling her eyes, the girl turned to me.

"I'm really sorry for anything she's put you through. We'll be more than okay with a free appetizer," she smiled.

I took a deep breath. Part of me felt relieved- I always hated dealing with bitchy customers.

"Mommy, that's da man from tha park!" the little girl pointed to me.

"Sierra, shhh," she scolded her daughter. "It's not polite to point."

"Well it's him."

Now I knew why she looked familiar!

"Yeah," I chuckled, smiling at the little girl. "I'm the man from the park."

"Jessica, what are you-" her mother began.

Oh, yeah. That's right- her name was Jess.

"I didn't know you owned this place," Jess looked up at me.

"I didn't know that you liked Italian food."

"Well," she laughed. "We barely talked for 5 minutes. There's a lot about me you don't know."

"I guess you're right," I chuckled, getting reading to leave them to their dinner. "Sorry about the food."

"It's okay. Thanks, Embry," Jess smiled again.

_She remembered my name._

As soon as I sat back down at the booth across from Kevin, he waggled his eyebrows at me.

"You know I don't swing your way, right?" I laughed, plopping back down in the seat.

"No, stupid!" he slapped his hand down on the table. "What was going on between you and that chick over there?"

"What chick?" I asked, playing dumb.

"That hot redhead."

"You mean Jess? Nothing's going on between us. I met her at the park like 2 months ago."

"You should ask her out."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Because…… Because I-"

"There's no reason why you can't ask her out."

_Actually, I can think of a lot……._

I thought about the possibility in my mind. Me going out with Jess. Jess going out with me.

Wait, did I even know if she was married or not? I didn't remember seeing a ring on her finger.

Even if she was single, what would be the point? I'd just be taking advantage of her. She'd never be the one for me, and I knew it…….

"I dare you to ask her out," Kevin said slowly. "Live a little. You're not tied down to Aria. Trust me!"

I wasn't tied down to Aria? Yeah right!

But Jess _was_ nice. And pretty. And funny. And, oh, what the hell. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to just try one date.

"You know what? I think I am going to ask her out," I declared, deciding to take a chance as I got up out of the booth.

I ran over to her as she was walking out the door, bending down to pick her daughter up in her arms.

"Hey, Jess!" I called from across the room. "Jess!"

I ran over to her and she stopped, looking up at me expectantly.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering……. Do you wanna go to dinner sometime?"

* * *

***APOV***

I slammed the door to my apartment and kicked my heels off, not caring that they flew into the wall, scuffing up the yellow paint.

I threw my purse onto the hardwood floor, not the slightest bit concerned that I probably just smashed my cell phone inside of it.

I stomped into the kitchen, not giving a fuck whether or not I was waking anybody up with my loud noise.

The only thing I could keep focusing on was what happened at my shitty day at work.

"What is going on?" Matt sprinted into the kitchen, almost falling flat on his face. "Is someone getting assaulted out here?!"

"No," I shot him a look.

"Told you it was just Aria being pissed off," Alisa said nonchalantly, walking in slowly behind her husband with a mug of tea in her hand.

"I'm not pissed off," I looked over at her, tears forming in my eyes. "I'm just really upset."

God, I must have been bipolar.

Okay, maybe not. Just pregnant.

"Women," Matt shook his head before walking away and going back to whatever he was doing.

"Aw," Alisa pouted, setting her mug down on the counter. "Tell me all about it."

"No, it's dumb. And it's also incredibly selfish for me to be so upset, anyways," I sniffed, changing my attitude and wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my dress.

"If it's upsetting you, it's not stupid," she argued. "Tell me."

"Well," I sighed. "Embry asked a girl out today. And I know that it's not fair for me to be mad and upset, because I'm basically doing the same thing to him, only 10 times worse, but I am. It's been ruining my whole day."

"But this is what you wanted, right?" Alisa looked at me in confusion.

"What?"

"You're always saying that you wish he'd just move on; that he'd find someone to be with so you could stop hurting him."

"I know," I nodded. "I just don't know why it's getting to me so much."

But I really did.

That girl- Jess, or whatever her name was- was the real deal, the whole package. She was pretty, she was nice. I saw the way her and Embry talked to each other at her table. And the way she looked at him. But the worst part that absolutely made me want to scream was that look on his face as he ran over to her to ask her out. It was a look of happiness, a look of hope. He almost looked like he _wanted_ her.

And that bugged me to no end.

He didn't know that I noticed. He probably didn't even know that I knew he asked her out. But maybe that was a good thing. If he wouldn't talk about it with me, then maybe I could just pretend like it never happened.

I would be much happier that way.

Much, much happier.

But screw that- I was too damn stubborn to pretend.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, everybody! How have you all been? I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while. School is really a time sucker, plus I've been on the go lately with some family shizz........ I hope that this chapter was alright. I feel like I'm losing my writing edge, so PLEASE let me know if I'm starting to suck at writing or anything! I really love all kinds of feedback, both positive and negative. Maybe I'll have time to update over the Thanksgiving holiday; maybe not. I'll just see how it goes. Just in case I can't, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of you Americans, and to everybody else out there- Have fun seeing New Moon! (You know you're gonna love it.) Please comment and thanks so much for giving this fic some time out of your day!**


	16. Chapter 15: Stay

**A/N: Okay, here it is- Chapter 14!! This one is sort of long, but I guess I can call it my Christmas present to all of you that read and like this story??? And to the reviewer who said that I needed to move the story along: THANK YOU!!! :D Lol finally I have some criticism that can really help me. I'm trying to finish this story up. I definitely DO NOT want it going over 20 chapters, and the way it's going now, it looks like there will be only a few more. I hope this story isn't becoming TOO much of a drag, haha. **

**Okay, well, now please enjoy this new chapter!! (Oh, and I don't own Twilight, of course......)**

* * *

***APOV***

My mother was in town for a visit, so _of course_ we had to go out to eat somewhere nice.

And since we were going out to eat somewhere nice, _of course_ I had to put on a damn pair of high heels. (Which hurt like hell when you have swollen pregnancy feet, by the way.)

And since I was already in such a happy mood, _of course_ we just had to coincidentally go to the same restaurant that Embry and his beloved little girlfriend were at.

How fucking convenient.

See, Embry had been going out with this girl for about a month, and what a month it had been. Apparently, they originally met at a park when she lost her daughter (what a great mom she must be), and Embry helped bring her daughter back to her.

Seriously, I think the only time I've ever heard of that corny "meeting-coincidentally in the park" shit was in the movies……. And it really should just stay that way.

According to Alisa, I'm "bitter." Whatever. Honestly, I could really care less. Maybe because deep down, I know that Embry is probably just using this girl as a ploy or something to get me to feel jealous, which is pretty pathetic if you ask me. Besides, what would I be jealous for?

But then, I've got this other part of me that feels bitter because he actually sort of looks……. _happy_ when he talks about her. She even comes in to work sometimes to visit him. Ick.

_**Flashback**_

"_Hey, you're Aria, right?" Jess asked me._

"_Depends….. what does my nametag say?" I jokingly looked down at my shirt._

"_Uhm…. You don't wear nametags here. You do know that, right?"_

_Duh. I worked there- of course I knew that!_

"_Yes, I know that," I sighed. "What do you need?"_

"_Well, I was wondering if Embry-"_

"_Nope. Sorry. He's not available today," I cut her off._

"_Oh," she frowned. "Why?"_

"_Because he's just not."_

"_Are you sure? Maybe if you just let me go to the back-" she tried pushing her way past me._

"_Sorry, customers aren't allowed to seat themselves!" I held my arm out._

"_But I just want to get through to see-"_

"_I told you," I said, my tone more serious this time. "He's not available today. So why don't you take your little redheaded-"_

"_Aria?" Embry came up behind me. "What did I tell you about being pushy with customers? Oh, hey Jess!"_

_At first, it looked like his face fell, but then he broke out into a smile. I felt my stomach drop._

"_Hey, I was just coming by to see you," she smiled, kissing him on the cheek._

_I rolled my eyes and turned around._

"_Aria, are you okay?" Embry asked._

"_What? Why wouldn't I be okay?" I snapped as I realized my cheeks were burning red._

"_You just look…… not happy."_

_What a great observation, genius…….._

At the restaurant, a cute, young waiter swiftly seated my mother, sister, and me at a table in the corner of the room.

_Hmmmm…… maybe I'll pull an Embry and hook up with the waiter_, I thought sarcastically to myself as I sat down in my chair. _Oh_ _wait, that's right- I'm pregnant! Nobody wants to be with someone like me._

Not even Embry.

As I thought about Embry, and how it was all his fault for my misery, I looked around the restaurant. It seemed like everybody else was eating, drinking, laughing, just having a good old time.

I decided that I could do that too; I wasn't going to obsess over some stupid guy.

I had Logan anyway…… what the hell was I getting so upset over Embry for?

_Argh- I've got to get that name out of my head. Embry, Embry, Embry! No._

"Uh-oh," Alisa muttered.

"What?" I asked.

"Don't look to your right, okay Ar?"

Immediately, I looked to my right. Dread filled me as soon as I saw who it was.

Embry and his girlfriend were here.

* * *

***EPOV***

I looked out of the corner of my eye and my breathing hitched as soon as I laid my eyes on her. I wasn't expecting to see Aria here, but it wasn't by _any_ means a bad thing.

Jess was talking to me about something that happened to her last week, and I wanted to be interested. I really did. But the only thing I could focus on was what I was feeling.

That deep longing in my chest; that _pull_.

I wanted so badly to walk over to her, to touch her, take in her scent, hear her voice.

I would have died a thousand times over, just for one simple thing. I would have gone to the ends of the universe, just to see her sitting across the table from me instead of Jess.

I wanted Aria so bad that it hurt. I felt pathetic, but really, what could I do? I was hopelessly in love with her, and even when she fucked up (which was often), I realized that nothing she could ever possibly do would change that.

Truth be told, the reason I asked Jess out in the first place was to see if she could help take my mind off of Aria and maybe help me move on a bit. But as soon as I realized that was nearly impossible to accomplish, I stuck around her because one, she was actually pretty fun to be around, and two, because…….. well, frankly because I knew that it bugged the crap out of Aria.

Yes, I know that sounds selfish, but really, it's not. If Aria was getting jealous because I was in a relationship, then maybe her hard-ass head would finally realize that she needs to be with me instead of her prick of a fiancé.

That was the only other way to finally get her. If nothing I could say would convince her, then maybe what I _did_ would.

"I'll be right back," I said to Jess as I saw Aria go towards the bathrooms.

"Where are you going?" she asked, concerned.

"Bathroom. Sorry," I shrugged.

"Oh, no," she laughed. "That's fine. Take your time."

I scooted out of my chair and walked away.

When I rounded the corner, I nearly had a heart attack as I bumped into a pregnant woman.

"What the?" she put her hand over her bulging stomach.

"Shit. I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed. "I didn't mean to-"

"Embry?"

The woman looked up at me, and I could have fallen to the ground right then and there.

It was Aria.

"Aria, what are you doing here?" I asked casually, pretending like I hadn't been stealing glances at her all night.

"My mom's in town, so I decided to take her out for dinner," she explained. "What about you?"

"I'm just here with Kevin and some of his-"

"Embry," she repeated, putting her hands on her hips. "Don't lie to me."

"What?"

"I know you're on a date," she said slowly.

Her voice had a weird tone to it- jealousy maybe?

"Yeah, you got me," I put my hands in my pockets and looked down at her earnestly.

"Well, are you having a good time?" Aria asked softly, looking down at the ground so that I couldn't see her face.

"Yeah," I said quickly. If I talked too long, Aria would be able to tell that I was lying.

"Okay, well, I'm not going to keep you from her for any longer," she smiled up at me.

I'd been around her so much that I could tell it was fake.

_No. Stay. I want you to stay with me._

"Yeah, I guess I should head back," I looked back at Jess, who was still sitting alone at the table.

* * *

***APOV***

"He's on a date," I huffed as I sat back down in my chair.

"So?" Alisa asked as she reached over to steal a piece of bread off of my plate.

"_So?"_

"Yes?"

"I don't really know," I sat back in my chair, blinking a few times.

"I think I know," she said quietly, probably thinking that I couldn't hear her.

"Aria," my mom said, turning to look at me. "That's the tenth time you've talked about that Embry boy tonight. Stop thinking about him and just enjoy this nice dinner! Besides, I thought you said that you two were just friends, anyway."

"We are," I sighed, picking up my fork and playing around with vegetables on my plate.

Somehow, I couldn't bring myself to eat them. Instead, I kept glancing over in Embry and his date's direction.

_Stop it, Aria. Stop it now!_

I couldn't help it- it was just bothering me so much. The thought of Embry on a date with another woman……. No.

"You're looking over at him again," Alisa nudged me in the side. "Honestly, you've gotten yourself into this mess. Just try to not let it bother you so much."

I took a sip of water and tried to calm down.

Jealousy can be such a terrible, terrible bitch.

* * *

"That's it," I said through clenched teeth as I stormed into the apartment, pulling off my red heels.

I was being really good all night long, and was handling the situation pretty well, until I saw _them_ kiss goodnight. That was too much.

"You know what? Screw him! Screw him and screw his stupid girlfriend!" I ranted as I reached down into the kitchen cabinets and pulled out a sponge and started cleaning the counters.

"Wow," Alisa said calmly, arms crossed, sitting on a barstool at the counters. "You _are _really pissed off; you're power cleaning!"

"I know. I get it from Mom."

"The obsessive-compulsive, pissed off cleaning trait? Yeah, that's definitely from her," she laughed.

I looked up from scrubbing the counter to shoot her a death glare.

"I think I'm going to make you mad more often. This place could really use your cleaning assistance."

"Alisa, _shut up_," I said as I wrung the sponge out, some of the water splattering onto the floor.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Be right back," she said as she skipped out of the kitchen.

Throwing down the sponge, I made my way over to the kitchen table and sat down, putting my head in my hands.

Was I allowed to be this psychotic? Was it normal during pregnancy to act like this- happy with life one minute, ready to murder someone the next?

How could that even be healthy?

As I took a deep breath, I decided to calm down for the night. After all, stress was bad for the baby, and I'd been having a lot of that lately.

I got up and was making my way back over to the sink to clean things up when suddenly, I slipped on some water that must have been on the floor from earlier.

I feel right on the side of my stomach, and when I could feel pain, I instantly went into full-out panic mode.

"Alisa!" I yelled. "_Alisa!"_

"What's wrong?!" she asked frantically, running back into the kitchen. "Aria, you're starting to freak me- _Oh shit_," she said as soon as she saw me lying on the floor.

"My side….. My-my _baby_," I choked out, holding my side as I lie on the cold kitchen floor.

"What happened, honey?" Aria asked calmly, squatting down so that she was level to me to brush the hair out of my eyes.

I didn't realize I was bawling until she reached down to wipe the tears from my cheeks. Reaching around to support my back, she gently helped me sit up.

"I-I slipped and fell on my side," I forced out, still very shaken up. "I've got some pain, and _oh my God, Alisa._ My baby……."

"Shh, shh- it's gonna be alright. I'll help you get up, and then we'll have a look at your belly, okay? It's alright, Aria. Women take tumbles all the time when they're pregnant, and their babies are fine."

All I could do was nod my head as she helped me up and led me to the bathroom.

"The baby….. isn't moving as much as he was before," I panicked, moving my hands across my stomach.

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything. Here, let's get you out of this," she said as she helped me take my dress off, my stomach now fully visible. "Do you still have pain?"

"A little, but it's not as bad as it was," I replied.

"Okay, let's do a belly-inspection, here," she said, laughing a little. "I don't see any bruises or cuts on the right side……. _Oh crap._"

"What?" I asked in alarm.

"Ummm, I'm not trying to freak you out or anything, but maybe we should go to the hospital."

"What?! Why?"

"Take a look at the left side of your belly."

I looked into the mirror, turning to my right, and almost had a heart attack when I saw.

There, on my baby bump, was a huge, dark black bruise.

* * *

***EPOV***

"She's going to be alright," the on-call doctor said to me when I pulled her aside in the hallway outside of where Aria was resting.

"What's going on, exactly?" I looked at her intensely, worried sick about what was going on.

Alisa called me as soon as her and Aria reached the hospital and explained that there might be something wrong with the baby. I was with Jess, but hurried over as fast as I could. The two most important people in my life were in danger, and I needed to be here more than anything.

"Well, apparently she took a little fall. She noticed decreased fetal movement and a large bruise on the left side of her abdomen afterwards, so her sister brought her here as soon as she could."

"Is that all?"

"Just consider you and Aria are _very _lucky. After she came in, we ran an ultrasound to check on the baby, and things weren't exactly as they should be."

My knees felt weak and I grabbed onto the side of the wall. "What do you mean, _things weren't exactly as they should be?_"

"Aria has oligohydramnios," the doctor explained.

"Oligo-what?"

"It means that the levels of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby are lower than they should be. And since amniotic fluid is what protects babies when their mothers take a tumble, like I said, just consider you and Aria to be very lucky."

"Is it-"

"I'm sorry," she interrupted me, reaching down to check her beeping pager. "I've got an emergency with another patient to take care of. If you want to talk about this further, you can always come find me later."

"Alright," I nodded, reaching for the door handle to Aria's hospital room as the doctor briskly walked away.

"Oh my God, Aria," I said, out of breath, as soon as I walked into the room.

"Embry?" She was propped up in her bed, watching TV and sipping a drink through a straw when she perked up and looked over at me.

In that moment, she seemed to be doing okay, which gave me a huge rush of relief. But the sight of her hooked up to all sorts of IVs and machines made me feel want to puke.

"I'm here, Ar. I'm here now," I nodded my head as I rushed over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, facing her.

"Why do you sound so concerned? I'm fine now," she crossed her arms. "You can leave and go back to your girlfriend or whatever the hell you were doing."

"Aria don't say that-"

"Hey, could you move over to the right a little bit? You're kind of blocking my view of the TV-"

The fact that she could care less if I was there or not was frankly starting to piss me off.

"You know what? Fuck the TV," I said, snatching the remote from her hands and turning the damn thing off.

"What are you doing?" she looked up at me in annoyance.

"I want to know what happened, dammit! I was so worried about you and the baby, and then I come in here and you act like you think I don't give a shit about you. Well guess what, _I do!!"_

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Don't waste your time here," she replied flatly, looking away.

"No," I said, gently grabbing face, forcing her to turn to look me in the eyes. "I'm staying. You can't get rid of me. Now, would you like to explain to me what the hell is going on here?"

"No," she slid my hands off her face and looked to the side, breaking our eye contact.

"Fine."

I sighed, and we both just sat there in silence for the next couple of minutes. I wasn't going to leave until I had answers. And even when I knew what was going on, I still wasn't sure if I was going to leave Aria's side, at least not until she got out of this dreadful hospital.

One of the machines hooked up to Aria's belly started beeping loudly.

"I'll go get someone," I said urgently, getting up where I was sitting.

"No, don't. It's fine; that thing always makes that noise. It's just the baby's heartbeat."

I sat back down and started up at the monitor, observing the patterns in my child's heartbeat. I was just so happy, so relieved, to know that it was still there; that our baby was going to be okay.

After a couple more minutes, Aria finally cracked, just like I knew she would.

"Embry," she said softly, turning her head to look at me.

I could see tears in her eyes, so I scooted even closer to her. Unexpectedly, she buried her face into my neck and started to cry.

"I was so scared, Embry," she sobbed, and I could feel her hot tears on my neck. "I thought I lost it."

"Lost what?" I asked, pushing her away to wipe some of the tears from her face and brush some of her hair away from her eyes.

"Our…… our _baby_," she choked out as I wrapped my arms around her and pulled as close to me as possible. "All I remember is falling down and seeing this huge bruise right across my stomach. And then it wasn't even moving-"

"It's all gonna be okay, don't worry," I comforted her, talking into her ear. "The doctor says that everything's fine now. We're in the clear," I smiled at her.

"I know," she forced out, her voice still shaky with emotion. "It's just….. so much _could_ have happened. I don't even want to think about it-"

"Honey, then _don't_," I chuckled lightly, pulling her away from me again to get a better look at her. "It's all okay now. I'm here."

"I know," she nodded, sniffling at the same time. "Just promise me something, alright?"

"Anything."

"Please don't leave me. Not tonight. I know what I said earlier, but the truth is, I need you. You make everything better, calmer. I need you to stay."

"I could never leave you," I said, taking her hand in mine, our fingers intertwining.

And I knew that I couldn't. So, I just sat there, watching Aria lovingly as she finally dozed off to sleep, our hands never coming apart.

* * *

**A/N: Ahhhh, long chapter. Well, I hope it was okay! Starting with the next chapter, the story's really going to get moving along. Like I said, I really like writing this story, but I also just want to finish it up for everyone. Please review/fave/alert, whatever you want. But PLEASE, most importantly, REVIEW. I had 10+ alerts and faves from last chapter, and I LOVE those, but only 2 reviews! What's up with that? Come on, guys! Give me a little Christmas gift. :)**


	17. Chapter 16: Chicken Out

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight franchise, and all original characters from the saga belong to Smeyer, yada yada yada.....**

**OH- and please read my message at the end of the chapter!! It is very important and I'm so happy about it!!!**

* * *

***APOV***

"Okay, are you sure that you're going to be alright without me?" Embry smirked, standing in front of my door.

He was taking me home from the hospital- how sweet- and kept asking me if I needed him to stay the night with me.

"I'm sure I'll manage," I replied, going against what I really wanted. "I mean, my sister and Matt are here, so I'm not alone or anything."

"Okay," he nodded. "Well, if you need me, my door's always open."

"I know. Thanks."

I watched him walk away and felt the sudden urge to run after him, to grab him, shove him up against the wall, have my lips collide against his, feel-

_Aye. Crazy hormones._

"Hi, honey," my sister greeted me sweetly as I walked into the apartment.

"Hey," I muttered, throwing all of my stuff on the floor.

I had to stay in the hospital for 2 days, so Alisa brought me a bag with clothes and shampoo and all that.

"If you empty out your bag, I'll do all the laundry for you," she offered, which was so unlike her.

"Wow," I chuckled. "Looks like someone's feeling a little more like a housewife than usual."

"Oh, shut up," she playfully smacked my arm. "You were just in the hospital. I'm going to go easy on you for the next few days. Why don't you lie down and rest or watch TV or something?"

"Alisa, I'm fine. I'm even going back to work tomorrow-"

"No!" she held up her palm. "I don't want to hear excuses. You rest up and take it easy on your body, okay? It's important."

"Fine," I sighed, rolling my eyes and walking over to the couch.

I finally spotted the remote; it was in a basket full of baby toys, and clicked on the TV.

Just as I was starting to relax, Alisa yelled out to me.

"Hey! When did you get a Yankee's hoodie? I thought you hated them!"

"What?" I yelled back.

"I said, when did you get a Yankee's hoodie?"

"I don't have one!" I replied.

"Yes, you do!"

"Hold on, I'm coming to take a look," I sighed, struggling to get up from the couch.

"See?" Alisa held up a black hoodie.

"That's not mine," I furrowed my brow. "Let me see it."

She handed it over to me and I inspected it, checking the size and everything. Finally, I smelled it. It smelt like….. it smelt like-

"Aria, why are you _smelling_ it?" Alisa looked at me like I was crazy.

It smelled like Embry.

* * *

"Hey, is that my hoodie?" Embry asked a week later when he came over, gesturing towards the black lump of clothing strewn across the couch.

Crap. I was hoping that he wouldn't have noticed it was gone.

"Uhh, I don't know," I walked over to it, playing dumb. "Is it?"

"Yeah," he said, picking it up and spreading it out in front of him, just to make sure. "It's a Yankees hoodie; it's mine. Did you not know it was mine?"

_Of course I knew that it was yours, you idiot! Why else do you think I've slept in it every night for the past five days and refuse to wash it just because it smells like you?!!_

I looked down at my feet, ashamed by my obsession with that damn thing. Good thing Embry couldn't read my thoughts, or I would have died of embarrassment.

"Since when have you been a Yankee's fan?" I asked, trying to change the subject as I refluffed the pillows on the couch and refolded the blanket I was using earlier.

"I'm not a huge fan, really," he shrugged. "But Jess bought me the thing, so-"

"Oh," I interrupted, feeling my stomach drop.

So _she_ gave him that thing. Well, that knowledge would have come in handy a week ago. I would have thrown that stupid hoodie into the trash can instead.

Suddenly, I was hit with a big kick in my side. My hands immediately flew to the right side of my stomach, and I held myself together there, like if I didn't, I might snap in half or something.

"Aria," Embry furrowed his brow, his expression overflowing with concern. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, easing myself slowly down into a chair. "Ow, ow, ow! He really kicks hard sometimes. I swear, it's like he's trying to break free out of here," I chuckled darkly, wincing at the pain. "It's _Prison Break: Uterus edition_."

Embry started laughing, but stopped and looked up at me, hopeful.

"Wait, he?"

"Well, I don't know for sure. But I just feel like it's a boy."

"Motherly intuition," he nodded.

"Yeah," I winced as the baby kicked again, only this time it didn't hurt so badly.

"Another kick?"

"Mhmmm……"

"Can I….. _feel_ it?" Embry asked timidly, getting on his knees right in front of me so that his face was right next to my stomach.

"Sure. You don't have to ask, you know," I smiled down at him.

Slowly, he moved his hand onto my belly, moving it all over. A smile broke out across my face when I saw his look of determination.

"I can't feel anything," he frowned.

"Here," I took his warm hand in mine, ignoring the electricity that seemed to erupt from the simple touch. "Try feeling now," I said, putting his hand over to the right side.

The baby kicked again, and I felt tears starting to form in my eyes as I looked at Embry's face. He broke out into a smile, and just stared, his dark brown eyes filled with love for his unborn child.

"Wow," he breathed.

"I know. It's amazing, isn't it?"

Our heads whipped to the doorway as a flash went off in the room.

"Great," I groaned as Embry got back up to his feet and crossed his arms.

"Sorry," Alisa peeked out of the doorway sheepishly, holding up a digital camera. "I didn't mean to spy; I was just going to get something from the fridge but then I saw you two were having a moment and had to-"

"It's okay," Embry chuckled. "What time is it anyway?"

"7 o'clock," Alisa replied.

"Shit! I've got to get going!"

"What's wrong- you got a hot date?" she joked.

If my eyes were daggers, she would have been dead.

"Actually, I do," he replied, evoking a jaw-dropping reaction from Alisa.

"Oh, well, have fun," she said unconvincingly, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, have fun, Em," I said, trying to hurry up and just get him out of the apartment already.

I didn't want him in here when all he was going to do was think about _her._

As I led him to the door, he turned around and stopped, staring straight into my eyes. His mouth opened and he looked like he was going to say something important, but then he took a deep breath and gave me a hug.

"Bye, Aria," he said, leaning down to kiss me on the cheek.

I watched as he walked out the door and down the hall.

He stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned back around, with that look on his face again.

"Yes?" I asked, leaning against my door, arms crossed, trying to get him to say what he was trying so hard to get out.

He paused, then, "Nevermind."

I stood at my doorway, puzzled, as I watched him walk out of my sight.

"Way to go, Alisa," I complained as I walked back inside. "You sure know how to ruin a moment."

"I don't ruin moments; I capture them!!"

* * *

***EPOV***

I walked out of Aria's apartment and towards the elevators, feeling lucky when an elevator opened on the floor as soon as I made my way over to it.

Getting onboard, I hit the button and waited for the doors to close.

Since I wanted to impress Jess when I saw her, I slipped the hoodie over my head, stopping abruptly when a scent hit my nose.

Maybe a normal human wouldn't have been able to detect it, but I sure could.

The smell was sweet, warm, kind of like vanilla. It smelled exactly like…….. _Aria._

It wasn't possible for me to wipe the smile off my face until I reached the ground floor.

* * *

"Hey," Jess smiled as she walked up to me to give me a kiss on the cheek. "Didn't I get you that hoodie?"

"Uh, yeah," I looked down at her smiling. "I felt like wearing it today."

"I'm glad you like it," she nodded. "Ya know, it looks pretty good on you," she smirked.

"Mhmmm," I chuckled uneasily as a slight breeze blew through the air, stirring Aria's scent around.

"So, I was thinking that we could go see the Statue of Liberty. I haven't been there in a while. Ooh, and there's this really good Italian place a few blocks from there. Does that sound good?"

"Whatever you want to do," I said, putting my hands in my pockets.

"You're one of the best guys I've ever dated, have I ever told you that?" she smiled.

"Now you have," I forced out a smile.

"Come on, let's go," she took my hand and intertwined her fingers with mine.

It was so hard to fight the urge to just let go of her.

* * *

"Oh, _this _place?" I wondered aloud as we walked into the restaurant. "I've been here before. I took Aria her back when she first came to New York."

"Aria?" Jess repeated, only it was more like a question.

"Yeah, we saw the Statue of Liberty, and then we went out to eat here. It was great," I said, trying not to remember how that night actually ended.

"Oh," she replied, clearly not happy that I was talking about her.

"Hi, folks, can I get you anything to drink?" a friendly waitress asked as soon as we were seated.

"I'll have a Coke, thanks," I replied.

"Water for me," Jess piped up.

"Alright. I'll be right back with those."

"Soooo….." Jess rested her chin in her hands. "You sure do talk about Aria a lot. Not that I'm complaining or anything," she added quickly at the end.

"I do?" I asked, my heart beating faster.

Crap. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like it makes me jealous or anything; more like curious, you could say."

"Curious? You're curious?"

"Mhmm," she nodded. "Like, how do you guys know each other? Are you friends, cousins, siblings, what? Or is she just your employee? I don't get it."

"Well, she's my employee and a friend, basically."

"But you said you took her here for dinner. Isn't that a date?"

"Well, yeah, but that was a long time ago-"

"And what about last week, when she was in the hospital, huh? Why did you leave me so quickly like that if she's just an employee and a friend? Why was everything so urgent?"

"Jess," I said slowly, knowing that I had to tell her the truth. "You know Aria's pregnant, right?"

"Yes."

"Well," I took a deep breath. "I'm sorta kinda the father of her baby."

"What?" she sat back in her chair, eyeing me angrily. "You're the _father_ of her baby?!"

"Yep."

"But you said that she was just a friend-"

"And she _is_," I interrupted. "But sometimes things happen."

"Sometimes people can fuck up and make huge mistakes," she clarified. "I understand that."

What? Yes, I know that Aria and I were being irresponsible and all, but I never thought of my baby or this situation as a _mistake_. Sure, it wasn't exactly the most ideal circumstance, but to say that it was a fucked up mistake? Never.

"It's not a huge mistake," I said to her, a little bit of anger in my voice.

"What would you call it then?"

"I don't know…… why do we have to label it as anything?"

"Fine," she crossed her arms and looked away from me.

"Fine."

"Look, Embry, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just kind of mad that you didn't tell me any of this sooner," she pouted.

"Jess, we've only been dating for a little over a month."

"I know that, but, I don't know……. Are you keeping anything else from me?"

_Well, see, I'm kind of only dating you to make Aria jealous. I mean, you're great and all, and it would be nice if I could just fall in love with you instead, but the truth is that, compared to Aria, she's the sun and you're a fluorescent light bulb. Sorry._

"Uhh, no," I said uneasily.

"Promise?" she asked earnestly.

"I promise," I replied.

At least she couldn't see that my fingers were crossed under the table……..

* * *

***APOV***

"Aria?" the voice on the other end of the line said timidly, like they knew they did something that they shouldn't have.

"Logan, what do you want?" I sighed, unhappy that he was calling.

"Baby, look, I heard about what happened with the whole hospital thing. Your sister called me, letting me know what happened. I was going to call the next day to make sure you and the baby were okay, but then work was so busy and-"

"It's been over a week since it happened. Why bother calling now?"

"Your sister left me a voicemail cussing me out. She basically told me that I was a prick and that I didn't care about you at all, which made me feel like shit. So I called."

"Nice to know that it takes a threatening voicemail to get you to call me," I sneered.

"Aria, what more do you want from me?! We're thousands of miles apart! What else can I do?"

"Oh, I don't know," I said sarcastically. "I mean, it's so hard to keep in touch over long distances these days, isn't it? The internet, cell phones, web cams….. gosh where does one even begin?!"

"Don't be a smartass, Ar. Please. I had a bad day at work today," he pleaded.

"Yeah, well I've been having bad days for a while now," I shot back. "But oh wait- that's right! You wouldn't know because you never even try to call me!"

"Aria," he repeated, more serious this time. "You know that I-"

"I don't care," I interrupted him. "It's been almost a month with you not calling me, not replying to my emails and texts, nothing."

"I'm sorry. Like I said, I've been busy with work and everything."

"Really, Logan? You're busy, huh? Well then maybe you're too busy to marry me……"

"No! Aria!" his voice sounded panicked. "Baby, I told you that after we get married, things will settle down. _We'll _settle down….. with our baby."

When he said '_with our baby'_, I felt like slapping myself. Yeah, he shouldn't have gone so long without talking to me, but I shouldn't be having another guy's kid…..

"Logan," I said slowly, preparing myself for what I was going to say next. "There's something you should know, about the baby."

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, no. Everything's fine. It's just that the baby-"

"Hold on a sec, babe," he interrupted, and I could hear him talking to someone in the background. "Okay, I'm back now. So what about the baby?"

Could I tell him? _Should_ I tell him? Well, duh- I mean, the guilt was absolutely killing me. But would it be fair to him, to break the news like this to him over a phone call? What would he even do- cuss me out and break off the engagement? Maybe it would be safer to not be in the same room, but I wasn't sure where to even begin.

"The baby….. is doing absolutely fine now," I chickened out. "As a matter of fact, I get another ultrasound tomorrow!"

"That's great, Ar! I wish I could go with you," he sighed before talking to someone in the background again.

"What's going on over there?" I asked worriedly.

"Nothing. I've got to go now, honey," Logan replied, not sounding the least bit disappointed. "I'll probably give you a call tomorrow."

"Okay," I sighed.

"Hey, now, don't be so down. We'll finally see each other in two weeks," he tried to comfort me. "In La Push…… when we get married!"

"Yeah, I can't believe it's so close," I said quickly, feeling butterflies in my stomach.

Were they the good butterflies, or the bad ones? I couldn't tell.

"Okay, I've got to go for real now, baby. Goodnight."

"Night, Logan," I said sharply, moving the phone away from my ear.

I heard him say, "I love you," but I didn't say anything back.

Instead, I hung the phone up and then threw it against the wall.

* * *

**A/N: Woot! Woot! Shorter chapter, I know. I just liked this chapter and wanted to post it for all of you. Troubles with each of the significant others...... love it! Next chapter will definitely move things along, big-time. Please review/alert/fave. **

**NOOOOOOWWW........... *drumroll please***

**FINDING ME HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR THE BEST EMBRY STORY!!!!!**

**I don't know how in the hell this happened, but to whoever nominated it- *BIG HUGS*. I feel so honored to be nominated in this category, so thank you! But there's a catch- Finding Me still needs 2-3 more votes in that category.**

If you want to participate this is the link to the nominations thread: http://forum(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/topic/66481/20624122/1/ (let me know if the link doesn't work). There, you can vote for Finding Me or for any story you'd like. Please go and vote! And, as always, thanks for being such great readers. :)


	18. Chapter 17: New Chapters, New Chances

**A/N: Hello to all of you dear readers, whom I love so much!! Sorry for not updating in, gosh, 2 months? 3? I don't even know. Time has gone by so fast and life doesn't have a pause button (I wish it did.) So here's Chapter 17. Oh, and as always: Smeyer owns Twilight. I own..... well, at the moment I pretty much own a laptop computer and a meal pass, but that's beside the point. Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

***APOV***

Well, this was finally it. This morning, when I looked out my window and got a glimpse of the huge city right next to me, I realized that this was the end.

The New York chapter of my life was over; now the next chapter was just beginning.

I was usually excited for change. I loved travelling, starting new things. I wasn't really one to stay still for very long, which is why I left La Push like I did.

But for some reason, when I walked down the street towards _Posto Dell' Aria_, and looked around at all of the people, all of the buildings, and took in all of the sounds and smells…….

I couldn't help but feel sad.

But I couldn't figure out why. This place wasn't any more special than any other place I've lived. And it was way too crowded and polluted here. It was good that I was leaving; good that I was getting out.

But at the same time, I felt like by leaving New York, I was leaving a part of myself there, too.

I tried to shake off that depressing and stupid feeling as I walked through the doors of the restaurant, ready to say my final goodbyes.

It was funny how a little less than a year ago, I took my first steps inside this place, unsure of what was going to happen. Yet here I was a year later, with so many damn things to look back on.

Business was slow, as it had been for a while now. Candace was outside puffing down a cigarette, Kathy said goodbye to me yesterday because she was leaving for vacation, and I really didn't want to go back into the kitchen to talk to the cooks; they already knew I was leaving.

So that left Embry and Kevin for the goodbyes.

_Embry._

I thought so long and hard about how I would say that final goodbye to him. Would I hug him, shake his hand, jump into his arms, kiss him? Probably not the last two. Why was I even still having thoughts like this?

I did invite him to my wedding, but he never really RSVP'd, so I just assumed he wasn't coming. Maybe he really didn't care about me anymore. I guess that's what happens when you meet somebody new.

But good for him. He was finally moved on. We could be friends now.

I wasn't sure how our relationship would go once I left and got married. How would things work out between the baby? But people have kids together and live far apart all the time, so maybe it would be easier than I thought.

At least I sure hoped that it would be.

"Hey, Kevin," I greeted him in the fake-cheery voice from behind as he was punching in numbers on a calculator.

"JESUS!!" he turned around, his hand over his chest. "You scared the crap outta me!"

"Sorry," I laughed, amused by his reaction. "I'm just stopped by to say….. bye."

"Bye?" he looked at me in confusion.

"Yeah. I'm leaving today to, remember? I don't work here anymore," I clarified for him.

"Oh, that's right; I remember that now. It's gonna be hard to find someone who was as good at being a host as you were, Aria."

"Awww, thanks," I smiled. "But I think you'll all be fine without me."

"Maybe, maybe not," he teased. "How did Embry take your goodbye?"

"Oh, I haven't talked to him yet today. Isn't he here?"

"Nope," Kevin replied. "He had to run over to New Jersey for something. I think he'll be back by 1, though, if you want to say goodbye to him in person……"

"I can't," I frowned, feeling my heart sink. "My flight leaves at 11."

"Oh, that's a bummer. I'll tell him you said goodbye, though."

"Okay, thanks, Kevin," I said, realizing that my voice was cracking a little bit.

I turned around and started walking as fast as I could, not wanting anyone to notice my distress.

"Aria!" Kevin called after me.

"Yeah?" I turned around, trying to stabilize my voice.

"Congratulations on getting married."

"Thanks," I mumbled, turning around and walking again.

I couldn't believe Embry.

Sure, I knew that he didn't like the fact that I was getting married, and I was okay with that.

But the fact that I was leaving New York, without feeling Embry's long, warm arms wrapped around me….. without hearing his comforting voice…. Without taking in his scent one last time-

_No. _

No.

I shook my head, and in an instant, my attitude did a one-eighty.

It wasn't my problem if he didn't care about me leaving. Maybe I would miss him- okay, I _knew_ that I would miss him- but at least he was finally moving on from me. I was getting married, he was in a new relationship. Things were finally working out the way they were supposed to.

Yet as I walked farther and farther from the restaurant, I felt this urge, this _pulling_-

To have those long, warm arms embrace me and never let me go.

* * *

***EPOV***

"Hey, man," I greeted Kevin later in the day, patting him on the back.

"Hey."

"Has business been this slow all day?" I asked, looking around at all of the empty tables and booths.

"Pretty much. What a boring day to be a host," he sighed, resting his chin in his hands.

"Host? Why are you the host today? Is Aria sick or something?"

"No. Aria left today, don't you remember?"

"What?!" I asked, my heart beginning to beat faster. "When did she leave?"

"Well, she came in this morning to say goodbye and get her stuff."

"And she didn't even ask for me?"

"She did, but-"

"But what?!" I interrupted, desperate to know the answer.

"But you were gone so she just told me to tell you goodbye."

"Oh, she didn't try to stick around for me or anything?"

"Nope. She said she had to catch her flight."

"Oh," I replied, feeling like I'd been kicked in the chest.

Aria didn't even care enough to say goodbye to me.

I guess it really was over.

She left; she was getting married.

Her decision had been made.

* * *

If the old me was dealing with Aria leaving, I would have definitely hit up the bar, pounding God-only-knows how many drinks. I would have chugged down booze after booze, not giving a shit if I was a sip away from fatal alcohol poisoning or not. Hell, maybe I would have even found a hooker or some random girl at the bar to make me feel better.

But it didn't matter, because the next morning, I would wake up with a nasty hangover and some slut on the opposite site of the bed, the guilt finding its way into my brain, making me feel 10 times worse than I originally did.

Luckily, that old Embry was gone. I didn't need to drink or screw around to try to cope anymore. Maybe it was because I knew I had to grow up and be more responsible for my kid. Maybe it was because I finally knew how bad that type of lifestyle was for me.

Regardless, instead of drinking my body weight in alcohol, Jess was keeping me company at my place. She offered to cook dinner, and we were going to watch a movie. I figured that it might get my mind off of Aria for _at least_ a second. No such luck.

"What kind of pasta should I cook?" Jess yelled from the kitchen. "Spaghetti, fusilli, macaroni-"

She was interrupted by the loud ringing of my cell phone. I glanced down at the caller ID, not recognizing the number. Usually, if I didn't know the number, I'd just let it go to voicemail, but for some reason, I felt like I needed to answer this phone call.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, Embry. It's Alisa."

"Alisa! What's up?"

"Who's on the phone?" Jess yelled from the kitchen. "Embry, did you hear me?"

"Hey. I wanted to talk to you about something important," Alisa's voice cut through.

"Yeah sure, anything," I said, my voice lower this time as I walked farther away from Jess's hearing range.

"It's about my sister."

My heart instantly started beating faster.

"She loves you, Embry. She still does. And she always will. She just doesn't want to admit it. She's ashamed that she doesn't love her fiancé as much as she loves you. No matter what she says, she loves you."

"I love her too," I breathed. "But fuck, she's getting married. And this time she's gonna go through with it. I can't stop it. It's her choice. She didn't even care enough to say goodbye to me. I think she's made up her mind for real this time."

"No she hasn't! She won't do what's best for her. All she cares about is pleasing everybody else! Listen, I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I think we should try and stop this wedding. Once she's put under pressure, she'll crack and tell Logan that she really doesn't love him. Embry, you know I don't like Logan. I will do anything to break them apart," she vowed.

"Do you really care about your sister's happiness or your own?"

"Her happiness lies in you. _You_ make her happy; _you_ make her feel like herself. She'd just rather suffer for someone else's happiness. She's the one who doesn't care about her happiness, and it drives me up a freaking wall. She's always been stubborn like that."

"Alisa," I sighed. "I don't want them to be together any more than you do, but I can't butt into her business like that. She'll hate me for doing it; I just know she will. Besides, I'm not even going to her wedding. I don't think I'll be able to handle it, and I don't really have enough money or time to buy a plane ticket anyway. She's getting married in less than 48 hours. It's not a good idea."

"That's why I want you to have my ticket, Embry," she said softly.

"But you're her sister, her maid of honor," I said quickly. "You need to be there!"

"No, I don't," she insisted. "I'm convinced that if you fly out to La Push, there isn't even going to _be_ a wedding."

"But she's already made up her mind. Like you said, she's stubborn."

"Look," Alisa replied, her voice sounding a little frustrated. "I'm not going to stand by and let my sister marry some douchebag when I know that she wants to be with you. Call me crazy, but I'm not doing this for my sake. Take the ticket or leave it; I'm not going to beg."

I considered it for a moment- taking the ticket, flying out to La Push, stopping Aria's wedding once and for all-

But I knew that it probably wouldn't work.

"Alisa, if we both love her, then we're going to have to accept her decision,"I replied, going against what I really wanted to do.

"Oh, fuck her decision!" she yelled. "I'm tired of this."

"So am I….. so am I."

"Then take _the damn ticket_," Alisa offered for the last time.

"No, I'm not going to do that. It's not right."

"Fine, but just remember who she'll belong to in two days…… _til death do they part_," she said slowly before abruptly hanging up the phone.

I slowly pulled my phone away from my ear and stared at it.

Alisa was right- Aria would belong to Logan, not me. He would be the one she'd belong to. She'd be with him for the rest of her life- through the good times and the bad, through more pregnancies, through raising kids, through growing old…..

She wouldn't be in New York anymore, so we wouldn't see each other very much. Logan wasn't exactly a fan of mine, so if Aria wanted to call me, we'd have to keep it private. And when she had the baby who knew what would happen. I didn't even know if Logan knew the truth about the baby. Weren't we supposed to tell him _together?_ So much for that......

And then there was the wedding night- I couldn't even begin to think about that one.

"You love her," Jess's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I turned around, not expecting to see her there, arms crossed as she leaned against the door frame.

"Aria. You love her."

"No, I don't. I'm not even-"

"Embry," she shook her head. "Embry, Embry, Embry. When are you ever going to learn that you can't always cover up how you're feeling?" she asked as she wiped her hands on her apron.

"Jess, I honestly don't know what you're-"

"Oh, come on!" she threw her hands up in the air. "Don't act like you don't have feelings for her. I can tell, Embry. You always find a way to talk about her, be near her. I see the way you look at her. You're even the father of her baby!"

"The only reason I'm the dad is because-"

"Is because she really feels the same way about you," she interrupted. "I heard some of your phone call with her sister."

"Jess," I said softly, looking down at the ground. "I don't want you to think I've been using you this whole time."

"It's okay," she smiled slightly. "I guess part of me knew all along that you weren't completely there for me."

"I tried to be, though. I really did," I took her hands in mine. "It'd be so easy to fall in love with you, but-"

"But she already has your heart," she finished for me.

"Yeah, and she gets to rip it out of my chest and never give it back," I added.

"Well, I guess this is just a sign that we weren't ever meant to be together," she said, her voice sad.

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. I'm happy for you; I really am. Aria's lucky that you love her so much."

"But she doesn't even appreciate any of it."

"She doesn't appreciate any of it _yet_," she looked up at me, her eyes kind. "But she will. Just give her time."

"How much time? There's not much left. I can't even do anything about it anymore."

"Of course you can! You know exactly what you need to do."

"Yeah? And what would that be-"

"Go get her."

And then she walked out the door, leaving me in my apartment all alone.

I stared at the phone in the palm of my hand. It was getting heavier by the second, and the seconds were getting faster and faster…..

I seized the keypad, pressed re-dial, and heard the sweet ring of the phone within 10 seconds.

"You rang?" Alisa replied.

"Okay….. gimme the ticket."

Silence.

"Alisa, give me the damn ticket!"

More silence.

"_Alisa!!"_

I was growing desperate now, just waiting for her response-

"Took you long enough."

And then she hung up.

* * *

"Okay, did you pack a nice suit?" Alisa asked, inspecting my suitcase.

"Yes," I rolled my eyes. "Do we really have to go through all of this? My flight leaves in-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…." She waved her hand. "Do you remember what story we're sticking with?"

"You and Matt are sick with horrendous food poisoning and have doctor's orders to not travel, right?"

"Good boy," she patted me on the top of the head. "Do you remember anything else I told you?"

"Ummm," I bit down on my lip, trying to think. "Oh, yeah! You said to avoid Aunt Crystal, right?"

"Unless you find spending time with pot-holder collectors who constantly talk about their herd of housecats, then yes."

"Got it."

"Anything else?"

"Avoid Logan's mom at all costs."

"That's a definite," Alisa nodded. "I've only met the bitch once, but she supposedly is just like her son."

"Which means-"

"Extremely stuck up and annoying," she finished.

"Okay, is that all?"

"No, there's one more thing."

"Which is….?"

"GET SOME!" she yelled, then burst out laughing.

"Umm….. no."

"I just felt like saying that," she giggled. "But no, _please_ don't do anything stupid or reckless. And don't knock anyone up in La Push this time around, okay?"

"What?! How do you know that-"

"Aria and I are closer than you think," she winked. "What time is the flight again?"

"8 o'clock," I replied.

"Oh, damn!" she exclaimed. "Then what the hell are we doing here still? We gotta get your butt to the airport!"

We shuffled out of my apartment and I locked up the door. As I did so, I suddenly realized something.

The next time I'd see this door again, I would either have everything I ever wanted…..

Or I would have lost it all.

* * *

**A/N: How was it? I hoped you liked it! I have two more chapters planned out, and then something else (maybe). I know I usually make these notes longer at the end, but I am running out of time and have to go. As always, please review! Good and bad- I wanna hear it all! Also fave/alert if you wish...... Go ahead, make my day. :)**

**Thank you for reading!**


	19. Chapter 18: Leah's Counseling

**A/N: SOOOO CLOSE TO THE END!!!! Okay, sorry for not updating in so long. Hope everyone had a great Easter/spring break! Now onto the story..... (that technically stemmed from Smeyer's creative brain but has been manipulated by me, a broke-ass college student) Enjoy, loves!**

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* * *

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***EPOV***

"Thanks for letting me stay at your place, Jake," I said to him appreciatively as I threw my suitcase into the backseat of this truck, which was currently parked in the Seattle Airport parking lot.

"Anytime. Besides, did you think that I forgot what happened to you the last time you unexpectedly showed up at your mom's doorstep?" he chuckled.

I cringed, remembering my mom in a robe.

"Dude!" I playfully punched his arm. "It takes 6 years to forget about a memory; thanks for refreshing that one for me!"

"Hey, you didn't let me live down the waterbed incident from the seventh grade for _at least_ 3 years."

"Well, that's different," I chuckled.

"Sure. Sure it is," he laughed as he climbed into the driver's seat and revved the engine.

* * *

"So, Embry," Jared piped up, taking a swig of his beer as we all sat on Jake's back porch. "Are you gonna pull a Ben Braddock tomorrow? You know, totally hijack the wedding ceremony?"

"Well…." I lingered, not exactly sure about _what_ I was going to do.

I was in La Push; that was the biggest step. But now that I was here, where was I supposed to go? What was I supposed to do? And _how?_

"Yeah," Paul scoffed. "Wouldn't that be great? Embry and Aria, running to meet each other and run away together to start the rest of their lives, while Embry fights the hordes of pissed-off wedding guests with a metal cross."

"You gotta love that movie," Jared nodded, taking another swig of his beer.

"And if she still rejects you, then you look like the world's biggest dumbass," Jake scoffed. "Em, I think your best bet would be to talk to her before the ceremony."

"That would be great, if I knew where she was right now," I sighed, putting my chin in my hands.

"I know where she is," Nessie interrupted, making her way from the front yard.

"Hey, babe. How was shopping?" Jake's face lit up as she ran over to go kiss her.

"Oh, it was alright," she made a face. "Embry, she's having her rehearsal dinner right now at that new restaurant in Forks. I saw her as I was driving home from Port Angeles about 10 minutes ago."

"There ya go!" Jake clapped his hands. "Just go to the restaurant, try to talk to her in private, and then you can convince her that she shouldn't even waste her time trying to get married tomorrow."

"Yeah, you'll save her the effort," Nessie smiled, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"Well," I sighed, feeling kind of uneasy. "I guess it's worth a try, right?"

* * *

When I arrived at the restaurant, there were people _everywhere._ Food was being served left and right;, people were chatting away, and restaurant staff were buzzing around the room like pesky flies. How was I ever going to find Aria in this chaos?

Ten minutes later, and after some diligent searching, I finally spotted her at a table across the room. She was seated, surrounding by several people. At first she seemed engaged in some conversation she was having, but she looked up at glanced straight at me before quickly looking away. After five glances later and _still _no attempts on her part to come over and talk to me, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I sauntered over to her table, hands in my pockets and a smirk on my face. I could do this; I could convince her once and for all that she was making a serious mistake by getting married. After all, who wouldn't want _this?_ I laughed to myself as I approached her.

"Embry," Aria said sweetly, abruptly standing up in front of some people who I assumed were Logan's family members. "How nice to see you here. Why don't you meet me outside for a second?" she said, grabbing my arm and dragging me behind.

* * *

"You happy to see me?" I asked with a smirk as soon as we were outside, out of everyone's view.

"No! Well, yes. I mean no. I mean- What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Why can't I be here? You invited me to your wedding, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, but you never told me you were coming. And now, you decide to crash the rehearsal dinner?"

"I'm not crashing the rehearsal dinner. I actually have to tell you something."

"What do you have to tell me, then?" she said curtly, hand on her hip as she looked up at me in frustration.

"Alisa's not coming," I replied.

_Yeah, that's right. Chicken out and run around the real reason why you came here._

Aria's face fell, and it looked like she was going to cry.

"I know that she doesn't like Logan, but I at least was hoping that she would be here to support me," she sniffed, looking down at her pregnant stomach.

"No, no. She….. er, her and Matt got really bad food poisoning, and the doctor said that they couldn't travel anywhere for a couple of days," I lied.

"And she didn't just call me to tell me this herself, why?"

Oh shit. We didn't think of how to cover that part of the plan.

"Uh, well, you see-"

"Don't lie to me," she crossed her arms across her chest. "A phone call costs way less than a plane ticket, and you know it."

"I'm not lying……"

"Embry," she pleaded, the intense stare of her dark brown eyes making me melt. _"Please."_

"Fine," I sighed. "Alisa gave me her ticket."

"What the hell!" Aria stomped her foot. "Why?"

"I don't think you want to know."

"Yes, I do. Tell me. Embry, why are you here?"

"I'm here to keep you from making the biggest mistake of your life," I replied, taking both of her hands in mine. "Aria, you love me and I love you. We're having a baby together. When I'm with you, everything's perfect. I know you feel the same way about me. We belong together," I persisted, inching my body closer to hers. "I don't want to waste this."

"No," she whispered. "There's no way….. _You didn't even tell me goodbye."_

"That's because I didn't think you were leaving so early. Aria, you know I would have said goodbye if I knew. Just tell me how you really feel; that you feel the same way about me. Please?"

"No," she nodded her head slowly. "I don't…. I can't."

There she was, lying to me. _Again._

"And you get mad at me when I don't tell you the truth….." I snorted, pulling away from her.

"I am telling you the truth," she said, flatly.

"I'm sure you are."

"Please stop being sarcastic."

"Come on, Aria. Give it up! Put your own happiness before Logan's for once." I threw my hands up in the air. "Don't worry about what leaving him will do to him, or what people will think of you. Screw all of that. It's not important."

"Then you tell me, Embry, what is important?"

"What's important," I answered, staring straight into her eyes. "Is that you pay attention to how you feel. What's important is that you, me, and our baby are one big family, just how things should be."

"But this _isn't_ how things should be," she frowned. "Things weren't supposed to turn out this way. It wasn't what I planned."

"In case you haven't noticed, life never really goes as planned. I, of all people, would know! Sometimes we have to stop making plans," I said, inching my face down, closer to hers. "And just go with how we're _feeling."_

She looked into my eyes, and for a split second, I could see all of those raw emotions that she was trying to hide. Everything she was going against, everything she was trying to hide from me….. It was all coming undone for me to see.

"But when people go with how they're feeling-" she started to argue.

"Things like _this _happen," I growled, grabbing both sides of her face, pulling her lips onto mine.

I kept kissing her; she didn't stop. I was hungry for her taste, for her touch, and she wasn't fighting it. I backed her up slowly against the side of the building, our lips never breaking. I put my hands firmly on her hips, moving my body towards hers until her protruding baby bump wouldn't let us get andycloser. To my surprise, I felt her tongue against my lips, and her hands found her way into my hair. I took in everything at once- her scent, her sounds, her _existence. _I felt like I was in heaven, like the past several months were my personal purgatory and I was finally worthy of my reward. After a few minutes, she wrapped her comforting arms around my neck, and when I moved one of my hands to cradle the side of her face, I realized that she was crying.

"Hey, what's going on out here?" a female voice asked, gasping in surprise when she came into view. "Aria, what in the _hell _are you doing?!" she shrieked.

Aria and I immediately pulled away, looking like two deer caught in headlights.

Her eyes widened when she realized that it was none other than……. _Logan's mother._

"I, uh, I don't-" she stuttered, quickly wiping her eyes with the side of her arm.

"Shit," I muttered, nervously running a hand through my hair.

"Ma, what's going on out here? What's the commotion?" Logan asked worriedly as he came out from the restaurant, over to where we were.

"She- she was kissing that man!" his mother pointed at Aria. "Like some _slut!"_

"Hey!" I defended Aria. "How dare you call her a slut!"

"Embry?" Logan squinted, like he was trying to get a good look at me. "Embry Call?"

"Embry," Aria said softly, reaching out to grab my arm, "Don't say anything else."

I actually did what she said and kept my mouth shut for once.

"Aria, don't tell me you were kissing him. Please don't," Logan pleaded.

"I honestly……" she said slowly, like she was trying to think of something to say. "I honestly don't know what the hell that just was."

That simple sentence was like a blow to my stomach.

"But you-" I objected.

"Embry, just stop. Please. I meant what I said."

"What did you say?" Logan asked her. "Do you need me to help get the point across? Because I can definitely do that," he clenched his fists.

I had to stifle a laugh. I had at least 6 inches on him.

"God, that's the last thing I need tonight. Go back inside, Logan. I'll be there in a minute. I promise. Embry and I need to get this straightened out."

"Okay, but if he gives you any shit or hurts you-"

"He would never do that to me," Aria replied.

At least she knew I wasn't a prick.

Logan took his mother back inside, and once again, it was just me and Aria, alone.

"So…. You don't know what the hell that was, huh?" I asked, clearly hurt by what she said.

"You know what? I honestly don't know what to do with you anymore, Embry!" she threw her hands up in the air. "I love you, and you're a very dear friend to me, but if you can't respect our boundaries, then I don't think I can be around you."

My heart started beating faster and I panicked. I couldn't live in a world without Aria again.

"Look, I just want-"

"No. I'm getting married tomorrow. I don't care what Alisa wants, or what you want, or what anybody else wants. _I'm getting married tomorrow and nothing's going to stop me._ So stop your shit, okay? I want you to be at my wedding, but if you're going to be like this, then don't even bother coming."

"Aria," I forced out, embarrassed by the desperation in my voice. "I'm sorry, but I think that you're making a huge mistake."

"Thanks for your opinion," she said coldly. "Now, please, go home, or to wherever you're staying and don't come back here tonight. If you're coming to the wedding tomorrow, just- just don't pull any crap, okay? I mean what I said."

"Oh, do you?" I asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, I do," she shot me a look. "Logan's the one for me; not you, Embry. Accept that or lose me completely. It's your choice."

She turned around and walked back into the restaurant, leaving me standing there in shock.

I knew that I was 10 steps away from being in a restaurant full of people……

Yet somehow I felt like I was all alone.

* * *

"Fuck it!" I yelled, slamming my fist into the side of Jacob's shed, rattling the crappy frame as I did so. "Fuck it all!"

"Woah, man," Seth held his hands up. "Calm down. You said you haven't phased for a month; let's keep that going-"

I looked up at him, anger in my eyes.

"I've been through so much shit ever since I've been here, I'm about to lose the only woman I've ever loved, and when I get angry about it all, you tell me to _ calm down?_ Screw that! I don't fucking care if I phase! I don't care about anything anymore!" I said, clenching a fistful of my hair in frustration.

"Damn, you have more of a temper than I thought you did, Call," Paul commented. "I like it."

Seth rolled his eyes and turned back to me, "Look, Embry, man- I'm sorry. I'm just trying to help you out, here. It's hard when you feel like-"

"How in the hell would _you_ know how I feel?" I spat. "Any of you? You all found your imprints. You all got to have that fairy-tale happy ending shit. Don't pretend to know how I feel," I shook my head, backing away and walking toward Jake's house. "Don't even," I repeated, my tone darker this time.

Paul was right; I did have a temper. I even had more of a temper that _I _thought I did.

"What's wrong with you?" Leah raised her eyebrow at me as I came into the tiny kitchen, slamming the tiny screen door behind me. "Did your grand 'Show Up and Surprise Aria' plan not work as well as you hoped it would?"

"Do you really have to ask?"

"Well….."

"Leah, cut it out," Jacob warned. "Can't you see he's upset enough as it is? Just leave it alone!"

She scowled and looked away.

"So, Embry," Nessie piped up. "I don't want to say anything to upset you, but……. Are you going to the wedding tomorrow?"

"I honestly have no idea," I sighed, sitting down at the kitchen table. "I don't think I'll be able to handle it."

"Aria wants you to be there, Em," Jake added, sitting down next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "She even told me."

"Yeah, well there are a lot of things I want her to do, too, but I don't see any of them happening," I mumbled.

"That's the spirit!" he exclaimed sarcastically. "I know it's going to be hard for you, but if I were you, I'd go, for her sake, at least."

"Why? I'm pretty sure that because of tonight, she'd rather see me dead than at her wedding. Remember what happened to you when you showed up at Bella's wedding?"

Jacob looked awkwardly over at Renesmee. It was always weird, talking about how he used to be in love with her mom. Actually, it was pretty damn entertaining, but still.

"I got upset for different reasons," he said slowly. "Don't go there."

"Jake, I hate to break up this conversation," Nessie piped up, clearly annoyed by the fact that I brought up Jacob's past love life. I guess hearing that your boyfriend used to fantasize about your mom isn't the most pleasant thing to think about. "But we have to leave now if we're going to be at Mom and Dad's on time for dinner."

"Dinner?" I asked skeptically.

"Real funny, Embry," she rolled her eyes. "Yes, my family is making real food for dinner."

"But-"

"The go hunting for a deer and drink the blood," Jacob explained.

"And then we take it back home and cook it for Jake to eat! He manages to eat every morsel of human food Aunt Rosalie makes," she swatted him playfully on the back of the head before giving him loving kiss on the cheek.

Wow. Even a half vampire and a werewolf- one of the most fucked up pairings there could possibly be-had a better relationship than I had with my imprint.

"Oh, darn," I said sarcastically. "Too bad I have to miss that!"

"We can take you back some food-" Nessie offered.

"Nah, that's alright," I replied, gagging at the thought of eating food prepared by bloodsuckers. "I'll just raid Jake's fridge."

"Hey!"

"Come _on_!" Nessie exclaimed, grabbing Jacob's arm and dragging him towards the door. "You need to learn to be less possessive of your food! Now let's go!"

As soon as they were gone, I rubbed my eyes and laid my head down on the table, trying to just chill for a second. I didn't realize how tired I was.

_It would be so nice to go to sleep and never have to wake up……._

"What do you want?" I heard a voice say out loud, making me perk my head up.

"Huh?"

"What do you want to eat? I'll make you something."

I turned to see none other than Leah Clearwater standing right next to me. I guess she was in the kitchen the whole time.

"Uhhh, I'll just have some of that leftover meatloaf in the fridge-"

"It's sickening, isn't it?" she said aloud, interrupting me.

"The meatloaf?" I asked.

"No! Jake and Nessie. Together. All over each other like that. I swear, it just makes me want to puke!"

"Yeah, I guess it's kind of-"

"Same goes for Kim and Jared, and Sam and Emily, and Paul and Rachel. Even Seth and his girlfriend make me want to barf!"

"Uhh," I said, looking up at her, confused. "Why? That's not very…… nice."

She threw her head back and started laughing.

"Trust me, Call- being nice isn't exactly on my 'To-Do List.'"

"I know that," I snorted.

"It's just all so pathetic, really," she added, sitting down in the chair next to me. "Imprinting. I mean, what the hell? It's like you see _the one_, you fall madly in love, and then everything just falls right into place! Perfect partner…… perfect relationship- it's just so _disgusting_," she wrinkled her nose.

"You really don't like imprinting, do you?"

"Ha! You can tell, huh? It doesn't seem like you like it too much, either……."

"That's not true," I replied, getting a glare in response from Leah. "Okay, okay…… Well, I'd probably like imprinting a hell of a lot more if my experience would have just gone smoothly like all the other guys' did. Their imprints never put them through all this."

"You don't get it, do you?" Leah asked, looking right in my eyes. "You do realize that you're 99.9% more fortunate than all those guys, right?"

"Yeah, right," I scoffed. "I'm just _sooooo_ lucky, aren't I? Why wouldn't I want to be like them? They've never had to go through this. They'll never understand what it feels like to lose the one person you love the most. They haven't had to go through all of this shit."

"And that's exactly why I feel sorry for them."

"You feel sorry for them because they've never gotten their hearts broken by their imprints?"

"Yep," she looked back at me, in all seriousness. "You see, they've never had to worry about their relationships. They don't know what it's like to fight for true love, to make an effort. They don't know that rush, that feeling like they have to hold onto something special- for them, it's always been there, and it's always going to be there. Hell, Kim can't even be away from Jared for_ 2 hours_ without missing him too much! Do you want that, Embry? Do you want your life to be like that?"

"It'd be so much better than it is now."

"No it wouldn't. You've got the advantage over all of them. Embry, you and Aria are lucky because you've gotten to experience the tough times. You've gotten to experience the lows that make the highs so special, so much more meaningful. Sam, Jacob, Quil- they'll never know what that's like, fighting to be with the one you love. Jake will never be able to look at Nessie sleeping next to him at night and think, 'Damn, we've been through so much, good and bad, yet we still ended up together.' But you will, Embry. Love isn't a fairytale; it's one hell of a crazy rollercoaster ride."

"And how do you know all of this?" I asked, surprised at how Leah Clearwater could actually have feelings.

"I've been through it. I got my heart torn up, yes, but it was still love. And the pain and suffering was a bitch, I'm not gonna lie, but it just makes the happy times in my life seem so much better. I'm thankful for all that I've been through, because at the end of the day, what I've gone through is part of who I am as a person. It makes me appreciate the good times so much more."

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm never going to be able to look at Aria sleeping and think that stuff," I shook my head. "We're not going to end up together."

"Has she gotten hitched yet?" Leah asked me, matter-of-factly.

"Well no….."

"Then don't be such a damn pessimist."

She got up from her spot at the table and started pulling food out of the refrigerator, making dinner for the both of us.

Did Leah Clearwater just tell me to not be a pessimist?

I kept my mouth shut, trying my hardest not to laugh.

Yet as I sat there, watching her move around the kitchen, I had a new respect for her that I never had before.

* * *

**A/N: I have the rest of this story written out. I'll equally space the next parts out, so expect updates every weekend. It's finally coming to an end, people! If you're wondering about the "Ben Braddock" reference, he's a character from the movie "The Graduate." The ending scene is awesome, and it's what Jared and Paul were referring to. You can youtube it if you're interested. And that little part with Leah in the end? Yeah, I love Leah. She was probably the most real/ most relatable character Smeyer created. **

**As always, please review. It means so much to me! Thank you for reading yet another chapter of this story. :)**


	20. Finale: Realize

**A/N: Oh my goodness!!! I can't believe it's finally here- THE FINALE! After (almost) a year of this story being on this site, and now it's finally completed. I'm actually tearing up right now (because I just had a 'let's see who can keep from blinking the longest' contest with my roommate, but hey- I'm still a sentimental person!) Alrighty, now let's get to the story, because I'm sure you all want me to shut up so you can read now. So.... enjoy!**

**Oh, and Twilight's not mine. (duh)**

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***APOV***

"Aria, honey, are you ready?" my mom asked, taking my hand and leading me towards the door.

"Mom, at least let me grab my bouquet first!" I said, letting go of her and walking over to the table where a bouquet of dark red roses was currently laying.

To my surprise, right next to my bouquet was a small note, folded up. It had _"Aria"_ written on the front, with _"p.s. read this before you start walking down the aisle!!"_ written right below.

"Uh, mom? Could you go outside for a sec? I have to go to the bathroom."

"But Aria, you'll need some help with your dress, and besides-"

"Mom, I'll be fine. Just- I need some alone time for a minute or two."

"Alright," she sighed, walking out and closing the door behind her.

I swiftly reached for the note and unfolded it. I planned on skimming over it really fast, but as soon as I read the first sentence, I knew that I better take my time.

"_Aria. What can I say? Your soon-to-be husband is one lucky bastard, that's for sure. You're the whole package- you're beautiful, you're kind, with a good sense of humor. You comfort me when I'm sad, you keep all my secrets. You never judge me, and I know that you'd do (mostly) anything for me. You're like my best friend. And it makes me feel good, knowing that you care about me so much. But at the same time, it makes me sad. It hurts to see you, be with you, laugh with you, talk with you, have a CHILD with you, and know that we can never be more. I know that you say we can't be together, and I'm not trying to pressure you. I just want you to know that you HAVE a choice, Aria. Be true to yourself. Choose the person you really love. Don't just marry someone because you feel obligated to- whether it be because they give you money, or got you through a hard time, or even if you know you'd hurt them by leaving them. Because at the end of the day, if you're not with someone for the right reasons, then it's not only unfair to you; it's unfair to the other person as well. Now, if I'm totally wrong on this, and you really want to marry Logan, and not because you feel like you have to, then, I'm not gonna lie, I'll be devastated. He'll never love you like I love you. Aria, I love you so much that it hurts. I want you so much that I would give up anything for you. I'd die a thousand times over for you, Aria. I need you. But love can't be one-sided, right? It isn't just about me and how I feel, because love is about being selfless, and putting someone else's happiness before yours. What I guess I'm trying to say here is, that since I really love you, I'm just going to have to let you go. It's going to take some time and it's going to be hard, but since I really, truly love you, Ar….. I'm going to let you go."_

I didn't realize that I was crying until my mother barged back into the room.

"Aria, honey? What's wrong?" she asked, wiping my tears away.

"Oh, nothing," I said, blinking to get rid of the rest of my waterworks, crumpling up the piece of paper in my hand.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing to the wad of paper I was holding. "Oh, wait. Did Logan write a letter to you for before the wedding? That is so romantic!"

"Uh, yeah. It is," I lied. "And you know, with these pregnancy hormones, emotions come out easily," I shrugged.

"Well come over here. We need to fix your makeup," she said, grabbing my arm again. "A little concealer here, some more mascara there. Okay, done. Oh, Aria!" she fanned her face, trying to keep from tearing up. "You look so beautiful! I wish your father could have seen this."

"Me too, Mom," I smiled, trying to ignore the lump currently in the bottom of my throat. "Me, too."

I felt like throwing up.

"Now, let's get out there, shall we? Everyone's waiting!"

And the lump just got bigger.

"Okay. Uhh, Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really nervous."

"That's normal," she said reassuringly as she tried to push me out of the room.

"No! Wait!" I said, stopping, grabbing both sides of the door frame. "I don't feel so well anymore."

"Aria," my mother said, rolling her eyes. "You're just nervous. Relax, you'll be fine."

As she pushed me out of the door that led out to the main part of the church, my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. I hoped to God that I wasn't going to have a panic attack going down the aisle.

The bridal march started to play, and my little brother walked up to me, smiling.

"It's showtime," he smiled, linking arms with me.

"Yeah," I laughed nervously. "Let's break a leg."

_Really, God. Please- just let me break my leg and get out of this wedding ceremony!_

Adam started walking forward, but my feet stayed planted in place.

"Aria," he turned around to look at me. "What are you doing? Let's go."

I decided to finally pick up my feet and just walk. And with each step I took, the worse I started to feel.

_No, no. I can do this. I know I can._

As we descended down the long aisle, I focused on the altar at the end. Being in front of large crowds always made me nervous. But when I looked forward, all I could see was Logan smiling at me, only making me more nervous than I already was. I was screwed either way.

When we finally stopped walking, Adam lifted up my veil and leaned down to kiss me on the cheek.

"Good luck, A," he whispered.

Yep. I was definitely going to need all the luck I could get.

Logan stepped down and took my hands, leading me up the altar. We stopped right in front of the priest, and as he looked into my eyes, I saw him mouth, "I love you."

All I did was smile back. The lump in my throat was now almost impossible to ignore.

"Dearly beloved," the priest began, projecting out to the crowd. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two individuals who wish to become one."

I looked out of the corner of my eye, trying to see if I could find Embry, but there were just too many people. I couldn't tell if he was there or not.

By the time we got to the vows, I was almost certain that I was going to upchuck my stomach's contents from lunch, but luckily, I kept them down. Well, at least for Logan's vows, anyway.

"Now, Aria," the priest instructed when it was my turn. "Repeat after me."

I heard a door open, and quickly looked to my left to see a tall, dark headed figure exit the church.

_Embry…. So he did come after all._

I ignored the desire to run after him and focused my attention back on the priest.

"I, Aria Noelle Ambler, take you, Logan Micheal Weller, to be my lawfully wedded husband," the priest said for me to repeat.

Immediately, Embry's face popped into my head, shifting my focus entirely. All I could think about was how this was hurting him. Just remembering how broken he looked last night made me want to burst into tears.

"Aria? Aria?" Logan asked, waving a hand in front of my face, breaking me from my thoughts.

"What? Oh yeah, sorry," I stuttered, which evoked a laugh from everyone in the pews. "I, Aria Noelle Amber, take you, Logan Michael Weller, to be my lawfully wedded husband," I said slowly.

"I promise to take care of you in…….." the priest trailed off.

My mind went back to Embry. Embry, Embry, Embry.

"Aria? Aria, are you alright?" Logan asked again.

What did Embry say in the letter? Oh, yeah- that's right.

_Choose the person you really love._

_Choose the person you really love._

_CHOOSE THE PERSON YOU REALLY LOVE._

Embry's face appeared in my head, and it was impossible to get him out.

"I-I'm sorry," I whispered, shaking my head, trying to keep my voice from cracking. "I just can't do this right now; I can't."

Logan's eyes widened and he took a step back.

"Are you saying-"he began.

"I'm saying," I said louder, so that everyone in the pews could hear me. "That I can't marry you right now. Actually, I can't marry you at all. Logan, you deserve a girl that loves you unconditionally, that gives you their all. You deserve to be with a girl who's head-over-heels in love with you. And, I'm sorry," I said, hanging my head down. "But I just can't be that girl."

I waited for him to reply, to start yelling, to start doing _something_, but he just stood there.

I looked out to the pews again. People were starting to shift uncomfortably in their seats, and I knew that I had to further explain what I meant soon.

As my face got hot and my breathing started getting faster, I knew that I couldn't be in that church any longer. I turned around and ran down the aisle and out into the fresh air, walked down the steps of the church, and looked around. It looked like it was about to rain. It was supposed to rain on funerals, not weddings. I guess even the weather knew that if I married Logan, part of me would be dead.

Sitting down on the steps, I put my chin in my hands, debating what to do next. Just the cool air of the outdoors and lack of Logan's presence was starting to make me feel better, though.

As I heard footsteps behind me, I turned around to see none other than the would-have-been groom himself.

"Aria," Logan panted. "Is it him?"

"What?"

"That Embry guy. Is he the reason why you won't marry me? Come on, Aria. I know you have a thing for him. You even kissed him last night!"

"Logan, I didn't-"

"Is it even mine?" he pointed to my stomach.

I swallowed hard, preparing for what was coming next.

Shaking my head, I softly whispered, "No."

"I knew it," he chuckled darkly. "I should have known you'd sleep around. All these years of us being together, all the things I've done for you and your family, and you just throw it all away for him!"

"I shouldn't have to be with you just because you were so kind to me in the past," I replied.

"Oh, is that what he told you? So it's okay to use people and betray them and-" he stopped when he realized that I was crying. "Aria," he said more calmly, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Aria?"

"Don't touch me," I spat.

"I have every right to be upset, and you know it."

"I know that you do," I said, wiping some tears from my eyes. "But that doesn't mean that you can be so hateful to me. You have no idea how difficult this has been for me."

"You took advantage of me, Aria. You know what you did."

"I didn't fucking take advantage of you!" I huffed, standing up. "You know what, Logan? I'm doing you a _favor._ What's the point of being in a marriage that's one-sided, huh?"

"I can't believe you, Aria! You're such a two-faced bitch that it isn't even funny. You let some guy just come into your life and-"

"Embry's not just _some guy_," I replied defensively.

"Then what is he?"

"He's one of the most caring, kind, funny, adorable…… ," I stopped myself. "Look, you're never going to understand me, or how I feel, and that's okay. You never did in the past. All I want you to understand is that this is for the best."

"Really?" he snorted. "How in the hell is this 'for the best?'"

"Because I'm going to be with the guy I really love, and you can go and find your_ true_ soulmate. You don't have to waste your time on me anymore."

"Aria, I want to be with you. I love you!" he shouted.

"I love you, too, Logan. I really do. But my love for you is different than the love I have for Embry. I'm sorry, but it is."

"I can't believe that after all the time I've spent on this relationship that-"

"What relationship?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "Ever since I moved out to New York, you've been distant. Don't act like you haven't been. Logan, sometimes you'd only call me once a week! What the hell kind of relationship is that?"

"A busy one."

"No. It's hardly a relationship at all," I replied, my voice cracking a little. "Embry has been there for me in every way that you haven't."

"Obviously," he snorted. "He's the one who knocked you up! Look, I'm not taking this. If you can't be with me, then-"

"Then you should at least want me to be happy," I interrupted him. "Because that's what love is, isn't it? Giving up your own happiness for someone else's?"

"That's a bunch of bullshit."

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way," I mumbled, looking at the ground.

"I'm sorry that you're so fucking stupid," he spat back.

"I'm not going to put up with this. I'm leaving," I replied as I started walking down the steps and away from Logan.

"You're going to regret this for the rest of your life, Aria Ambler!" he yelled after me."You're just- Ugh, I can't believe I ever fell for someone like you!"

I didn't look back. I didn't reply. There was no use wasting my breath.

I knew what I had to do, and I wasn't going to waste any more time getting there.

* * *

I didn't know where Embry went to, but I decided to walk to the beach first. I remember Embry telling me that that was where he usually went when he wanted to think about things.

As I walked down the hills and through the grass in my poofy wedding dress, I couldn't be happier that I was wearing flats instead of heels.

After about 15 minutes of walking, I finally reached the rocky sand. It was starting to mist rain, and I looked out down the shore to see a dark- haired guy sitting on a rock, one arm wrapped around his knees, the other tracing circles in the sand with a stick. Guess my prediction was spot-on.

"Embry!" I yelled out. "Embry!"

He turned his head in my direction, looked at me, then went back to what he was doing.

Great. If I wanted to talk to him, then he was going to make me walk all the way down there.

I sighed as I picked up my wedding dress and continued walking.

"Hey," I said when I got close to him.

He continued to ignore me.

I looked him over- his tie was all messed up, his shirt was partly-unbuttoned, and his eyes looked bloodshot. Had he been crying?

"Hey!" I repeated louder, determined to get his attention.

He looked up at me. "Aria, I know I said that I have to let you go, but-but," his face fell and he looked down as tears started to fall.

Seeing him like that just about broke my heart.

"Embry," I said softly, sitting down right next to him as I wrapped my arms around his warm torso.

His head rested against my breast, and I could see his hot tears leave stains on my dress as he continued to cry.

"I'm sorry," I said, rubbing his back and holding him close to me. "I really am."

"It's just….. it's so hard for me," he sobbed. "You…. Can…. Never…… understand."

"Embry, honey, please calm down."

"I can't. You're going to have to give me time to just let it out, Aria. I don't know if I'll ever be able to accept the fact that you're…. that you're never going to be with me."

I lifted his chin up so that he was looking straight at me and wiped his tears away.

"You're beautiful when you cry. Did you know that?" I told him.

His expression turned even sadder, and it absolutely broke my heart.

"Don't…… Don't try to make me want you even more," he sobbed again. "You're just making things that much more difficult for me."

"Things are only difficult if you make them that way."

"Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be back there with your……with your…. _husband_?" he stuttered as he started crying even harder.

"Shhh," I said, putting a finger over his lips. "Embry, I didn't marry him."

His eyes widened and he pulled back to sit up and look at me. "W-what?"

"I didn't marry Logan. And I'm never going to."

He looked down in confusion.

"Why?"

"Because," I said, reaching to wipe some of the tears off of his face. "I had to choose to be with the person I truly, deeply love."

"And who would that be?" he smirked, sniffing at the same time.

I rolled my eyes.

"I think you can take a wild guess," I said as I ruffled his hair.

His face lit up like he had just won the lottery.

"Listen," I said, taking one of his hands and gently running my thumb over his knuckles. "I've been in love with you pretty much from the first time I met you. I just tried to deny it, because, like you said, I felt obligated to marry Logan. But I was so stupid, Embry! You were there all along, always waiting for me, never giving up on me," I started tearing up. "I shouldn't have waited this long. I shouldn't have broken your heart so many times before. I've wasted so much time just-"

"I love you," he said, interrupting me with a kiss. "I love you, I love you, _I really freaking love you!"_ he shouted, kissing me again.

And I kissed him back, with all my force and all my might. I didn't care who saw us, who didn't see us. I didn't care what people were going to think, or if anyone was going to approve or disapprove.

All that I cared about was being there, in that moment, with him. Nothing else mattered, because with him, everything felt right, natural. I felt like I was home.

All of Embry's suffering, all of those years he spent looking for me and pining for me were worth it, because in the end, he found me.

And he never had to worry about losing me again.

* * *

**A/N: Well, how was it? Overly sappy, stupid, etc.? Or did it leave you satisfied? Please review and let me know!**

**I would also like to thank Dazzled4Life for coming up with this story idea in the first place, for writing the first couple of amazing chapters, and for picking me as the winner to continue on her story! Hopefully I did her justice!**

**I would also like to thank all of you readers! Without you, I wouldn't even write. And to the reviewers/alerters/favorite-ers??- THANK YOU. Just seeing those little alerts in my email inbox after every chapter makes me feel so good!**

**I have written an epilogue, but I'm not sure if I want to post it or not. I'm still debating on it...... So, until then, that's all for now folks!**

**And thank you, as always, for reading. (is the word "thank" starting to sound weird to anyone else??)**


	21. Epilogue: 15 Years Later

**A/N: Here is the epilogue! I only posted it because I love all of you..... and because I know that some of you would probably kick my ass if I didn't. Lol. :)**

**This entire epilogue is in Embry's POV, by the way.**

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* * *

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**Epilogue: 15 Years Later**

"DAD!" I heard a voice yell from upstairs. "Parker locked me out of the bathroom!"

Aria and I exchanged looks.

"Can't they get along just for a _day_?" she sighed as she flipped a pancake over the stove.

"Apparently not," I shook my head. "Well…… do you wanna go up there or should I?"

"I'll let you do the honors," she smiled.

"Daddy?" I heard a little voice ask behind me.

I turned around to see my 6 year old daughter, Rylee, standing in the doorway.

"Good morning, sweetheart," I walked over to her before picking her up. "You're up earlier than usual."

"Lexi was yelling," she rubbed her eyes.

"Do me a favor, will you?"

She nodded excitedly.

"Don't grow up."

"Daddy!" she giggled as I put her down.

As I walked upstairs, I could hear Lexi, our eldest daughter, pounding on the bathroom door.

"LET ME IN, PARKER!" she yelled as she yanked on the doorknob.

"Hey, calm down," I said, stepping in front of her.

"But Dad!" she stamped her foot. "He's doing this just to make me mad!"

"And obviously it's working," I laughed.

"Not funny."

"Parker," I said, knocking on the door. "Open up, it's me."

The door opened a crack and I saw Parker peek out.

"Dad?"

"Get out here, son."

"Okay," he sighed.

As soon as he opened the door, Lexi shot in there as fast as she could.

"Hold up," I said, putting my arm out in front of her.

"But-"

"Parker, why did you lock your sister out of the bathroom?" I asked.

"Because I needed to use it," he replied.

"Oh, really?" Lexi narrowed her eyes at him. "You had to use it for 15 minutes, huh?"

"Well," he grinned. "I could always use the bad Mexican excuse……. But, I really only needed it for like 2 seconds. I just really wanted to tick Lexi off, so-"

"Come on, guys," I sighed. "Can't you get along for once? At least for today?"

"Why, what's today?" Lexi asked.

"Me and your mom's wedding anniversary!"

"Ohhh, right. I forgot about that. Sorry, dad," she said sheepishly.

"Wait- how long have you two been married again?" Parker asked.

"15 years," Lexi answered for me.

"How would _you_ know?"

"Because, stupid, they got married a few months after I was born. If I'm 15, then they've been married for that long."

"Is calling Parker stupid really necessary, Lex?"

"Yes."

I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, get downstairs. Mom's making pancakes."

"She's _cooking_?" Parker chuckled. "I'm afraid."

I shot him a look.

"I mean- Yay! Mom's cooking!"

"Just be nice to her. She's been stressed out lately, and I was hoping that today would be a good day for her."

"But if I eat her cooking, will it be a good day for _me_?" he asked as we walked downstairs.

"Why can't you be like a normal teenage boy and just eat whatever's put in front of your face?" Lexi asked in annoyance. "Oh, hey Mom," Lexi smiled as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Morning, sweetie."

"Wow Mom- pancakes? They look really good," Parker said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Aria looked over at me, clearly confused.

I just smiled at her and shrugged.

* * *

"Zoey, honey, be careful! Don't go too far into the water!" Aria yelled worriedly as Zoey sprinted out the car and down to First Beach.

"I WON'T MOM!" she yelled back.

"God, Mom, you have to cut the umbilical cord sometime," a bikini-clad Lexi crossed her arms as she got out of the car.

"She's 10," I pointed out.

"Exactly."

"You don't know how it is being a parent," Aria came up behind her and squeezed her shoulders lovingly. "We want you to stay little forever."

In that moment, I realized how much my wife and daughter looked alike. Sure, Lexi, even at 15, had at least 4 inches on Aria, but she still had the same nose and those same amber brown eyes.

"Like I said," Lexi repeated, laughing. "You have to cut the umbilical cord sometime."

"What's a belly cord?" Rylee asked as we started walking down to the sandy shoreline.

"It used to be right……. Here!" I bent down and poked her belly button.

She giggled, putting her hand over her stomach.

"That feels funny."

* * *

"Zoey, scoot closer to your sister. Parker, _please_ get your hair out of your eyes. And Lexi- for the love of God- put a coverup over that stupid bikini of yours!" Aria commanded as she stood up, holding her camera.

"Why are we doing this again?" Lexi asked in annoyance as she went over to her bag and pulled a cottony white dress over her head.

"Christmas cards," I shrugged, which was followed by four loud groans.

"But it's August," Zoey pointed out.

"We get a discount at the printer's! Okay, now say cheese," Aria said slowly as she got the camera ready.

"CHEESE!" Zoey yelled.

"Wait a minute," Aria stood back up again. "Where's Rylee?"

"She's over there," Parker pointed behind me.

"Rylee!" Aria turned around, calling out to her. "Come over here, sweetie! We're taking the picture!"

"I'm coming!" she yelled back as she started running on the sidewalk over to where we were.

"Wow," I commented to Aria as we looked out towards the sea. "Look at that sunset."

"A rarity in a place like this," she agreed, wrapping her arms around my waist and nuzzling her face into my neck.

"Ew! No PDA, please," Lexi held her palm up.

I chuckled to myself before kissing Aria on the forehead.

"Owwww!" Rylee started crying out.

I looked into the direction of her voice, only to see that she had fallen down on the concrete sidewalk and was now crying her little eyes out.

"It's okay, it's okay," I said, rushing over to her. "Where are you hurt, honey?"

"Right here," she bawled, pointing to a scrape on her knee.

"Does it hurt?"

She nodded and started crying even harder.

"Hey, hey. Listen," I crouched down next to her and brushed some of her dark curls out of her face. "It's not that bad of a cut, but if I kiss it, will that make it all better?"

She nodded again.

"Okay," I bent down and kissed her knee. "Better?"

"Yeah," she whined.

"I'll carry you over there, okay? Mommy wants to take a picture of all of you for a Christmas card."

"I don't like taking pictures," she rubbed her eyes as I picked her up.

"I know, honey."

I set her down next to Parker and walked back by Aria. This whole picture thing was taking way longer than expected.

"Okay, everybody, say cheese," Aria repeated.

Rylee pouted and started crying again.

"Hey," Aria put her hands on her hips. "Why aren't you smiling, little girl?"

"Because I don't want to."

"But if you don't look pretty in the picture, then how are we supposed to give it to everyone?"

"What if Santa Claus sees it?" Zoey asked her.

"Pssh," Parker laughed. "Santa isn't even real."

"MOMMY!" Rylee screamed again. "TELL HIM TO STOP LYING!"

"Parker," Aria sighed, shaking her head. "How many times have we gone over this?"

"Santy Claus is real, dummy!" Rylee punched him lightly on the arm.

"Okay, okay. No need for violence, here," he chuckled, ruffling her hair.

"Thank you," Aria smiled at him. "Now, can we please just get this picture over with?"

"You're the one who wants to take it so badly," Lexi rolled her eyes.

Aria ignored her comment and got her camera ready again.

Walking over to the other side, my foot got caught in a piece of net buried under the sand and I tripped, falling flat on my face.

Everybody started laughing, and Aria snapped the picture just in time.

"Good job, babe," she laughed as she helped pull me up. "You made them all smile!"

"Yeah," I smirked as I rubbed my butt. "I'm just that great, aren't I?"

* * *

Later that night, after we got back from dinner and the beach, and after all of the kids were in bed, I was on my knees, looking through all of the cabinets and crevices in the living room, just looking for one simple book.

I couldn't find it- how could we have lost it? Then Aria walked in the room.

"Uhm, Em, what are you doing?" she laughed, hands on her hips, as I took all of the cushions out of the couch.

"Looking for our wedding album. Where the hell is it?"

"It's in our bedroom," she smiled. "Come on," she said softly, taking my hand.

When we got into the room, Aria walked over to her night table and yanked open the top drawer, pulling out a small white book.

"Ta-da," she declared in victory.

"What's it doing in there?" I asked, scratching my head.

"I like to look at it sometimes, so I always have it close to me," she explained as she sat down on top of the bed and motioned for me to join her.

"Admit it, you just like to look at all the pictures of me and how sexy I looked that day," I nodded.

"How did you know?"

I laughed and laid back into the pillows but propped my head up a little bit on the headboard. Aria's head immediately rested on top of my chest.

"Well, are we going to look at it or not?" she spoke up.

"Yeah. Turn the page."

The first page was boring- just some snap shots of the groomsmen and the bridesmaids. Aria made some comment about her sister's hair and then turned the page, laughing.

The next one was of Aria, in her dress and all. She looked so beautiful; I couldn't stop looking at the page.

"You looked so beautiful," I breathed. "Well, actually, you're always beautiful, but-"

"Really? I think I look kind of fat in this one," she objected.

"Aria," I scoffed. "You don't look fat; you had a baby two months before this was taken."

"Yeah, but-"

"Moving on! Let's turn the page," I interrupted.

_Women and their body issues……_

"Wow, look how beautiful the water looked," Aria commented as we looked at a picture of First Beach, the way it was the day we were married on it.

"It was actually sunny," I added.

"It must have been a sign," she smiled up at me. "That was one of the best days of my life."

"It _was_ the best day of mine," I replied, thinking back to that day, trying to remember each and every detail.

~~Flashback~~

_I dug my toes into the sand as we waited for the ceremony to start. It was a simple ceremony; neither of us wanted a big to-do, just a little gathering on First Beach with 100 or so of our closest friends and family. No hot, stuffy churches, no preachy ministers….. just us, our loved ones, and nature. I looked up into the sky, thankful that the sun was out and the sky was clear before being interrupted by a crying baby._

_I looked into the first row of chairs and my eyes landed on the little baby in my mom's arms. My and Aria's 2-month old daughter was crying, and it seemed like nothing my mom was doing could calm her down. My mom shot me a helpless look, and I quickly rushed over to them._

"_Lexi won't stop screaming!" she said frantically. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong."_

"_What's wrong, Lex? Come here, honey," I said soothingly, taking her out of my mother's arms and into mine, rocking her back and forth._

_I kissed her softly on the nose, and immediately she stopped crying._

"_Wow, you have the magic touch there, daddy," my mom chuckled._

"_Can I hold her?" George, my mom's goofy fiancé, asked._

"_Uhhh," I didn't think that was such a good idea._

_Music began to play, and I knew that the ceremony was starting._

"_Here, honey, give her to me," my mom said quickly, grabbing my daughter out of my arms._

_I walked back to the front of the gathering and watched as the bridal party couples began to proceed down the aisle. Paul, Jake, Quil, Sam, Jared, Seth- it was always kind of funny to see all of us dressed up in tuxes and suits instead of the usual cut-offs._

_As soon as all of my pack and all of the bridesmaids were on both sides of me up front, the music changed. Aria began to move toward us, her brother on her arm. Our friends and family turned their heads and my breath caught in my chest when I saw her. _

_God, she was beautiful. _

_I couldn't believe that it was finally happening. Finally, Aria was mine. After all of that time I spent looking for her, after all of the crap that we'd been through since I found her, she was finally mine, and she was going to be mine for the rest of my life._

_When she finally reached me at the end of the aisle, I could see that she had a tender smile on her face. Her brother reached down to lift the veil from her and gave her a small kiss on the cheek._

"_Let's do this for real this time," he chuckled softly as he gave her a hug and walked back over to where the rest of Aria's family was sitting._

"_You look beautiful," I whispered in her ear as she stood right in front of me._

"_You don't look too bad yourself. Well," she raised her eyebrows, smirking. "You ready for this?"_

"_Actually, now that you mention it, I think I might just bail," I teased, reaching down to tuck a strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear._

"_Sure," she laughed, taking her hand in mine and giving it a little squeeze. "You've only been wanting to marry me since you were what? Eighteen?"_

"_That's true."_

_The officiator of the ceremony- Billy Black - cleared his throat, and we looked back at each other, serious this time._

_He began to speak, and Aria reached over to lace her fingers with mine. She was looking at him intently as he spoke, but every once in a while, I caught her stealing a glance at me, smiling every time our eyes met._

"_And so, the clouds in the sky, the wind in the air, the waves of the ocean…… are simply the reminders of our loved ones not with us here today. The spirit of their lives has been passed on into Mother Nature, a cycle that is continuous and everlasting," Billy recited._

_Aria's eyes met mine, and she smiled again softly, her eyes sparkling with tears. I knew how badly she wished her dad could have been there to see this. I squeezed her hand gently to comfort her._

"_And now, for the rings," he continued, pulling two silver bands out of his pocket. "Embry, you go first."_

_I nodded, taking the ring out of his hand._

"_Do you, Embry Joseph Call, take this woman, Aria Noelle Ambler, to be your __wife, secure in the knowledge that you will be her constant friend, her faithful partner in life, and her one true love? Do you promise to love her without reservation, comfort her in times of distress, encourage her to achieve all of her goals, laugh with her and cry with her, grow with her in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with her, and cherish her for as long as you both shall live?"_

"_I do," I nodded, meaning those two words with every fiber in my being, as I slipped the ring onto Aria's finger._

"_And do you, Aria Noelle Ambler, take this man, Embry Joseph Call, to be your husband, secure in the knowledge that you will be his constant friend, his faithful partner in life, and his one true life? Do you promise to love him without reservation, comfort him in times of distress, encourage him to achieve all of his goals, laugh with him and cry with him, grow with him in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with him, and cherish him for as long as you both shall live?"_

"_I do," she said softly, and as she reached up to wipe her eyes, I realized that she was crying._

_She placed the ring on my finger and looked back up at me. I reached down and gently wiped a small tear off of her check with my thumb._

_Billy smiled softly as he looked from me to Aria, and then took a deep breath before going on with the ceremony._

"_Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other. Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years, May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and long upon the earth. And now," he took a deep breath. "May you kiss the bride."_

_The crowd hooted and hollered as Aria and I embraced, our lips colliding. I even heard a wolf-whistle from Seth._

"_I love you so much," she smiled widely as we broke apart. "So much…….."_

I came back to present-day, shaking my head. How I still remembered so much from that day, I didn't know.

"Sorry about that, Ar," I stretched my arms. "I was just thinking about that day. You're probably ready for me to turn the page, huh?"

No answer.

"Aria?"

Still no answer.

"Aria?" I shot up, looking down at her lying on my chest.

She was fast asleep, her lips pursued together ever-so slightly, her hand lightly gripping my wrist.

I smiled to myself and reached over to turn off the light on the nightstand, pausing when I noticed all of the pictures on it- pictures of me, pictures of our families, pictures of our kids.

I flipped the lamp switch and the room went dark.

As I laid there in bed, my mind wandered back to the time Leah comforted me the night before Aria was going to get married to Logan.

"_Jake will never be able to look at Nessie sleeping next to him at night and think, 'Damn, we've been through so much, good and bad, yet we still ended up together," Leah said to me. "But you will, Embry."_

As I glanced down at the woman fast asleep on my chest, and then at the pictures of my kids on the nightstand, I found myself thinking those exact same words.

* * *

**A/N: Well, this is truly the end. No more Finding Me. It finally has its closure. :)**

**If anybody has any questions about the story or anything, feel free to message me.**

**Please REVIEW, fave, alert, whatever. And muchas gracias for reading!**

**- K-Kitching714**


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